The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Appeal for PGI status for Forfar Bridie lodged
In an application 10 years in the making, Angus Council attempts to win coveted protection for popular savoury food
The famed Forfar Bridie has finally made its case to join Europe’s foodie top table but could still find Brussels bureaucrats rule the bid past its sell by date.
A decade after the idea was first mooted, the bridie’s attempt to join Angus associate the Arbroath Smokie alongside the likes of Champagne, Parma Ham and Stornoway Black Pudding on the list of geographically protected foods is now official.
Angus Council chiefs have confirmed the Forfar Bridie Producers’ Association PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) final application has been submitted but uncertainty remains over whether or not Brexit will leave a sour taste.
Angus policy and resources committee councillors were told the PGI application has been through a national consultation and is at the EC scrutiny stage prior to a three-month, EU-wide consultation.
If successful, PGI status would prohibit any bridie made outwith a five-mile radius of the Angus town from being called a Forfar Bridie.
“If (there are) no objections during this consultation then the product name would be registered, giving it protected status throughout the EU and automatically recognised in the UK,” stated a report to councillors.
“At this stage we cannot inform of any impacts from Brexit”.
Michael Saddler of the town’s family bakery firm said: “It has dragged on for so long that we’re not getting carried away, but of course it would be a great thing if it did happen.
“The bridie is as popular as ever, our sales have held up over the years and I’m sure the other bridie firms in the town are selling as much as well.”
Angus Council leader David Fairweather welcomed the PGI move and, in a nibble at a political rival, reheated a row which erupted around the savoury last year.
Arbroath independent Mr Fairweather told policy committee colleagues: “I’m sure Mr Duff will enjoy a bridie once it’s got protected status.”
The comments were a reference to a spicy row which broke out after Montrose SNP councillor Bill Duff last year branded the bridie a “low-quality processed meat product” not fit to feature in a planned £15 million food culture hub which emerged as an Angus idea in the Tay Cities Deal project.