Analysis of quality labels included in the European Union quality schemes

We analysed the use of European Union schemes of Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed labels in the European Union market according to selected criteria including type of label, country of origin, and product classes. The first part of the paper deals with the definition of food quality, quality labels, and European Union quality scheme specification. The second part includes the discussion of marketing research results. Secondary data from the Database of Origin and Registration are used. The sample consists of 1146 labels registered in this database as to the 28th of March 2013. The frequency of label utilisation is analysed according to country, type of label, and product classes, while the cluster analysis is also applied. Pearson's chi-squared test of independence is used to determine if significant differences exist between the frequency of using the labels and the above-mentioned criteria.