UNLIKE Camembert cheese, Parma ham and our own world-famous Arbroath Smokies, it could never be considered a delicacy.
However, yesterday it was announced Shetland wool is to become the first non-food item from the UK to be admitted to an EU protected list of products.
It means goods can only trade as Shetland wool if they have been produced by sheep from the island and reared organically.
Islanders celebrated the decision to award it Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) accreditation under the EU’s Protected Food Name (PFN) scheme, which followed a six-year battle.
This should ensure the wool is protected from cheap imports or fake foreign competitors as it will be an offence under EU law to sell them.
Dorota Rychlik from ShetlandOrganics CIC, a social enterprise set up to promote its organic movement, said: “We are all delighted that, as ShetlandOrganics members, we have received the well-deserved accreditation which, we find, means a lot to our well-informed customer and buyer of our outstanding woollen products.
“It comes at the time of increasing consumer awareness of provenance and traceability, and while the indigenous industries are enjoying a happy revival, as demonstrated by the popularity of our Wool Week here in Shetland.
“We could not have hoped for a better boost for our long-term determination to achieve European and world-wide recognition for the special quality of Shetland wool.”
She added that the successful bid from ShetlandOrganics has come at the right time. Surging demand for genuine wool products has resulted in a huge rise in market prices.
Scots fashion designer Di Gilpin used Shetland Wool for the first time this year, and took a number of pieces made from its fibres to her show at London fashion week.
She said: “The fibre itself just struck me for its absolute quality.
“It’s much softer to handle than other wools and its colours are just absolutely beautiful.There are about nine to 10 different natural shades in it and they all have a stunning luminescence to them.
“You expect wool to be scratchy against your skin, but it’s so soft that none of our models could believe that the garments were all made from it.”
Formal legal protection comes into force 20 days following the publication of the Commission Implementing Regulation in the EU Official Journal, which was published on November 8.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead, who announced the breakthrough yesterday, said: “Scotland is home to some of the most popular protected food name products in Europe and I’m delighted that Native Shetland Wool joins this exclusive club, as the first non-food product from Scotland.
“This PDO proves there is further opportunity for farmers through animal by-products to carve out a prestigious, desirable commodity as well food and drink.
“The high quality of Scottish sheep fleece together with extensive world-wide promotion of wool has seen demand soar.
“Consumers are moving away from synthetic offerings and demanding the genuine article – be it clothing or furnishings. Therefore, protecting our valuable natural resources is absolutely crucial.”
The EU’s PFN scheme also covers Scotch Beef, Scottish farmed salmon and the Cornish pasty.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article