Italy was the country that first initiated the European festivals celebrating the theme of cheese of Appellation d'origine (designation for controlled French origin.) The first meeting took place in the city of Bra in 1997. Hundreds of professionals attended as well as several tens of thousands of cheese-loving visitors who enjoy the specific home-style quality of regional cheese, or cheese du terroir as the French say, carrying a label that stands for traditional quality.

France took over the torch in Besse in Chandesse, at the heart of the department of Auvergne, raising equal professional and public enthusiasm and commitment, producing similar success in terms of technique and popularity, and winning respect for our cheese and the people who devote their lives to the production of the finest cheese in Europe.
Cheese makers from ten different countries came together to meet the large organisations, they deal with as well the customers as the cheese-lovers who share their ideal of fine taste and authenticity.

In Oct. 2000, in France, a combination of organisations including
INAO (Institut National des Appellations d' Origine),
CIDIL (Interprofessional Centre of Dairy Documentation and Information),
the French Chamber of Agriculture of Vosges an
the Interprofessional Trade Union for Munster Cheese

was selected to organise the Festival for 2000, in the centre of the agricultural department of Lorraine and the food-industry-oriented village of Epinal (in the Vosges region).



In a time of standardisation and globalisation, the 4th Festival of Cheese A.O.P. intended to raise the public´s awareness of the following topics from the centre of the Vosges region :

- To unite the A.O.C. (Cheese with the Designation of controlled French origin) and A.O.P. (Cheese with European Protected Designation of Origin) in order to ensure that their specific, characteristic qualities are taken into account in the World Market Organisation.

- To obtain the recognition and the respect of the specific domains and the public, and to disseminate information on the products within the World Trade Organisation (O.M.C.).

- To promote, among consumers, the image of the diversity of our European gastronomic culture and the heritage of the values passed on by the preceding generations and adapted to the needs and demands of modern life.
Considerable success here also, several tens of thousands of visitors, including 6500 schoolchildren !