March 28 2006, 09:11

Will "Melitopol cherry", "Yalta onion" and "Kherson water-melon" become brand names?

As "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal informed past year, a lot of Astrakhan water-melons were observed on Ukrainian market. At least, water-melon vendors insisted that their product was supplied exactly from that region. The specialists thought that certain volumes of Astrakhan water-melons were really supplied on market; but vendors sold several times more water-melons under this name.

According to the information provided by Russian mass media, the local authorities investigate ways to protect the reputation of the region famous for its high quality produce. In particular, Alexander Zhilkin, the Governor of Astrakhan oblast reports that the documents for registration of such trade marks as "Astrakhan water-melon", "Astrakhan tomato" and even "Astrakhan fish" are in the process of preparation. The product origin is one of the main factors for the produce market consumers. The trade mark is supposed to be protected by the hologram sticker or a simple brand label on each water-melon.

Such national brands as "Yalta onion", "Crimean potato", "Kherson tomato", "Kherson pepper", "Kherson water-melon", "Melitopol cherry", "Zakarpattya apples" and others are known in Ukraine. Early summer Kyiv vendors say that nearly all produce is of Crimean origin, though it is really produced in Kherson, Odesa or Zakarpattya oblast or even supplied from abroad. SANDORA company was the first to use the regional principle for juice branding; it is now one of the leaders of Ukrainian fruit and vegetable juice market.

Maybe, Ukrainian regional authorities should think about patent filing for such established names and about an identification system for the produce grown in the mentioned regions. On one hand, this way the incomes of regional treasuries can be increased. On the other hand, the profits of the local agricultural producers can grow as well, cause people are ready to pay higher price for the mentioned produce.