"Bancalet" is the new seal that will identify products originating in the Marina Alta. The person in charge of promoting its launch has been the Office of Innovation and Creativity, which manages the projects linked to the Creative City of Gastronomy. The processing, registration and management of the new trademark has progressed favourably, so much so that the presentation of the new distinctive has already has passed the public exhibition phase to register it at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office.
"Bancalet" is a collective brand under which producers, processors, merchants and, in a second phase, artisans, entities and hospitality establishments may act. This seal will be the tool that articulates the project "Bancalet: Biodiversitat, Territori i Cuina", an initiative to protect the territory from the perspective of gastronomy.
The aim of this action is to reconnect local agri-food production with the hospitality sector and with all that this implies in the economic, commercial, artisan and environmental fabric. The project of providing a collective brand to the local product of the Marina Alta has been undertaken with the aim of contribute to the revitalization of the agri-food sector from the premises of social innovation, fair trade, local consumption and food sovereignty.
Materials to test the brand
In addition to officially registering the trademark, there has also been progress in the realization of the documents and the design that will regulate the use and image of this precious seal. These materials will serve to work on a pilot experience to analyze its effectiveness. Initially, a small but diverse group of producers and interested sectors participate in this test.
The promotional materials proposal includes a logo, posters and brochures, a vinyl for the shop door, identification plates in shops and markets and stopper for linear exhibitors, among others. These promotional tools are also being uploaded to a web page (bancalet.com) in which information on the participants will be offered, with their geolocation, and the activities linked to the experience. From this page You can download documents, rules of use of the brand and various materials.
The experience will be actively launched in the coming weeks. Each of the initiatives that are proposed in the basic documents and those that arise from the proposals and suggestions of the participants will be tested in the fields of production and marketing.
At first the experience focuses on primary production, processing and trade. In a second phase, work will be carried out in the hotel and restaurant industry, which require specific treatment and need a solid base of identifiable products that will be outlined in this first stage of work with producers.
Objective: create an agri-food union
For the design of the “Bancalet” experience, the Information and Creativity Office has taken as a basis models and formats of active brands in other territories. Above all, experiences of Creative Cities of the UNESCO network from different countries, such as the Producers Association of Bergen (Norway) or the certificate of restaurants and gastronomic artisans of Tucson (Arizona, United States).
The objective of the project is to advance safely towards the creation of a "cluster" of agri-food companies in the region, that is to say, a unit or network of companies in the sector. The purpose is that it has a real weight in the local economy and that it be a source of consolidation and wealth for the hotel and tourism sector, and particularly that it strengthens its gastronomic offer.
The decision to promote a specific brand that displays the regional product in markets, shops and catering establishments was made after a series of consultations with agents in the agri-food sector. It is also part of the objectives set in the diagnosis of the territory prepared by the Office for Innovation and Creativity and is included in the conclusions of the D * na Forum Held in 2019.
The initiative is part of the commitment made with the UNESCO network to promote actions that contribute to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations and assumed by the international community.
