Distributors John & Pascalis defended its actions in taking the UK halloumi trademark from the Cyprus government saying it was saving the lucrative export industry from collapsing.
John & Pascalis issued a second statement in three days to reply to claims that the company is essentially blackmailing the Ministers of Agriculture and Commerce.
The London-based company owned by second generation UK Cypriots argue their sole purpose is protecting halloumi’s Cypriot identity which is being threatened by ineptitude in Nicosia.
It said that the first media statement, perceived by officials as blackmail, was prepared by the company and not by third parties or organization as implied by various publications.
John & Pascalis has also filed for the cancellation of the halloumi trademark awarded by the European Union to Cyprus and filed an appeal against the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) file as submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture.
“Officials are not aware of the peculiarities of halloumi and its market, so their actions do not benefit the product and seriously undermine its dynamic,” said a company statement.
“They cannot promote the halloumi registration in a manner that would benefit the nation and ensure the growth of the country’s dairy industry,” it added.
Regarding the Agriculture Ministry’s claims that “in order to register halloumi as a PDO, it will need a specific ratio quoted regarding milk used in its production, we emphasize that these claims are also being debunked. There are cheese products that have been registered and contain all three types of milk, with no reference to percentages.”
The sticking point of the PDO file is that currently, producers make halloumi with a ratio of 80%-20% of cow’s to goat or sheep’s milk, while the description of the file says that halloumi should be produced with a minimum of 51% goat or sheep’s milk as of 2024.
Cyprus dairy producers have also stated their concerns on the PDO file description on several occasions.
The company said that they cannot comprehend the reasons behind the Cypriot government’s actions and that they have no other way of protecting their imports than taking legal action.
It wants to avoid dealing with lawsuits from their clients, amongst them some of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains.
John & Pascalis have been selling exclusively, quality Cypriot halloumi for over 60 years in Great Britain.
“These products are on the shelves of all major UK supermarkets and some of them are used as raw material for food recipes. Our customers are disappointed with state decisions and expect a reduction in sales of halloumi if the PDO file goes ahead with the current description.”
Cypriot Nobel laureate Christopher Pissarides suggests that a compromise be reached with the government filing two registration files for the Cypriot cheese, one with a general naming halloumi without any specification as to what kind of milk should be used, and one for what he called “village halloumi” which will be made solely from goat and sheep milk.
Pissarides referred to the Italian paradigm of mozzarella cheese, which for them means cheese made with buffalo milk. But as cows outnumber the buffalo, there have been similar internal disputes as in Cyprus.
“How did the Italians solve the problem since 1998? The registration of the mozzarella name in the EU does not indicate what milk is used.
In addition, they also registered 'mozzarella di Bufala Campana', which not only refers to mozzarella with buffalo milk but must also to the cheese produced in Campania region, where this type of cheese was invented,” said Pissarides.
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