Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2018/C 96/13)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘BAYRISCH BLOCKMALZ’/‘BAYRISCHER BLOCKMALZ’/‘ECHT BAYRISCH BLOCKMALZ’/‘AECHT BAYRISCHER BLOCKMALZ’

EU No: DE-PGI-0005-01354 — 22.7.2015

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1.   Name(s)

‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’/‘Bayrischer Blockmalz’/‘Echt Bayrisch Blockmalz’/‘Aecht Bayrischer Blockmalz’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Germany

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

Class 2.3. Bread, pastry, cakes, confectionery, biscuits and other baker’s wares

3.2.   Description of product to which the name in (1) applies

(Hereinafter ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ means all variants of the name covered by this application).

‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ is a hard-boiled sweet or candy, with a malty flavour produced by malt extract. These dark brown sweets weigh between 3 g and 9 g and, due to the way they are produced, have an irregular, more-or-less cube-like although also rounded shape. The sugar/syrup composition of ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ contains sugar caramel from various types of sugar and at least 5 % malt extract or 4 % dried malt extract.

3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The ingredients are sugar, caramelised sugar syrup, malt extract and/or dried malt extract.

3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

All production steps take place in the identified geographical area, from the cooking of the sweet (i.e. the mixing of ingredients until the semi-finished product) until the machine-assisted cutting of the large-sized semi-finished product to form the product as it is known by its name, i.e. the ready-to-eat sweet.

3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

—

3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

—

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

German federal state of Bavaria.

5.   Link with the geographical area

Specificity of the geographical area:

In 1899, a chemist opened a pharmacy in Nuremberg, which grew into a wholesale firm within a few years. The product was developed by the chemist, who was later appointed a medical officer. A series of old labels from 1939 to 1952 and price lists and offers dating back to 1932 are evidence of the history and tradition of this product in Bavaria. Today, Bavaria is still home to the largest producers of Blockmalz. Bavarian producers have a long tradition and expert understanding of producing ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’.

Specificity of the product:

The seal of quality awarded to the product by the German Central Association of Homeopathic Physicians (Deutscher Zentralverein Homöopathischer Ärzte e.V.) on account of its natural, soft character is proof of the high regard in which the product is held, although this seal is no longer advertised. Today, a significant amount of ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ is still sold in pharmacies and drug stores. The sweet is also much loved due to the sweet malty flavour produced by its ingredients. ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ is very well known and highly regarded by consumers.

Causal link:

The product’s reputation is also based on its origin. Its production, which began in Bavaria in 1899 and has continued ever since, established a tradition which has created a reputation for the product based on its origin. This special reputation based on the origin of the product is demonstrated by the fact that the largest manufacturer also highlights the Bavarian origin of Blockmalz on the packaging of the final product by using a white/blue lozenge pattern and stylised mountain silhouette motif, conveying on the products themselves the locally-based reputation. The origin-based reputation of the product is also demonstrated by the fact that its name is listed as one of the prominent Bavarian geographical product names in the internet database of typical Bavarian foods (www.food-from-bavaria.de). The tourist website www.munich-greeter.de also states that ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ is a truly Bavarian hard candy that all children in Munich typically receive as a gift from their grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

The product’s link to Bavaria was also confirmed in a survey carried out in 2009 by the Association of Bavarian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Bayerischer Industrie- und Handelskammertag e.V.), with the majority of the companies involved affirming the special link between the product bearing the protected name and its area of production.

Further proof that the product is firmly established in Bavaria came in 2013 when the State capital of Munich granted permission for the ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ product, together with mini-dictionaries, to be sold in the ‘Hackerbräu-Festhalle’ beer tent at the Munich Oktoberfest. The fact that the State capital and tent operators agreed to this is an indication that the products are as firmly established in Bavarian tradition as the Oktoberfest itself.

The reputation of the product is demonstrated by the fact that packaging of ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ has been included in museum exhibitions. The inventory of the Domäne Dahlem foundation includes a sweet tin for ‘Echt Holberger’s Bayrischer Blockmalz-Zucker’ which the inventory states was produced in Munich in the 1950s and which shows the product alongside the silhouette of a typical snow-capped Bavarian village.

Proof of the link between the reputation and the regional origin of the product is also demonstrated by the fact that ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ is referred to as a prominent German regional speciality in the German foreign language textbook ‘em — neu — Deutsch als Fremdsprache — Niveaustufe B1+’, published in 2008. Evidence of the link between the product’s reputation and Bavaria can also be found in a film project produced by a Berlin-based agency, in which children are filmed trying different types of ‘exotic’ food. In one of the films, children from Berlin are presented with ‘dishes from Bavaria’. The agency deliberately chose dishes which, in the eyes of Bavarians and the rest of Germany, most embody Bavaria’s culinary identity. The dishes presented include ‘Obazda auf Brot’ and finally, as a dessert, ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’. This indicates the reputation which ‘Bayrisch Blockmalz’ enjoys, bearing in mind that the product’s inclusion in the film as a typical example from Bavaria only makes sense based on it having a reputation and being known. At the same time, this also demonstrates that the reputation is linked to the origin of the product, as it would not have been chosen to exemplify Bavaria’s culinary identity if such a link did not exist.

Reference to publication of the product specification

(Article 6(1), second subparagraph, of the Regulation)

https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/blattdownload/marken/2018/6/Teil-7/20180209

(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.