THE CASE OF THE PDO AND PGI LABELS IN THE CROATIAN MARKET

Sa？etak This research is a first step towards outlining the profile and motives of Croatian producers concerning their PDO/PGI food production practices. This paper is aimed at the producers’ perception of the success of protected products production as well as of marketing activities used to enhance the success of such products. The primary research method employed for the study was in-depth interviews with 17 producers of PDO olive oil and 6 PGI Dalmatian prosciuttos. Research results showed that protected product producers find that their biggest problem is an insufficient education of Croatian producers on PDO/PGI labels and high costs needed for the product protection and control process. Bureaucracy and costs of implementation, together with a lack of consumer knowledge, are likely to prevent rapid future adoption in the Croatia. However, producers of both types of products consider that greater success requires greater investments into marketing activities during a longer period of time. The paper concludes with several observations drawn from the data as well as implications for managers and researchers