--- title: What the heck is a geographical indication? - The Hustle description: Legal labels that mark where a product is from can be big business for local food producers. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1307681165-News-Brief_2022-02-24T023910.591Z.webp --- # What the heck is a geographical indication? ![Rob Litterst](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Rob-Litterst-pic.png?width=48&height=48&name=Rob-Litterst-pic.png) [Rob Litterst](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/rob-litterst) [Rob Litterst Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/robbylit) Published: February 24, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Florida oranges, Idaho potatoes, Washington apples — what do they all have in common? ![What the heck is a geographical indication?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1307681165-News-Brief_2022-02-24T023910.591Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1307681165-News-Brief_2022-02-24T023910.591Z.webp) A nifty little [label](https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/trademark-policy/geographical-indications#:~:text=Examples%20of%20GIs%20from%20the,reason%20that%20trademarks%20are%20valuable.) called a geographical indication (GI). A GI is essentially a legal label marking that a product comes from a particular region. Per *The Economist*, GIs [carry](https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/02/19/how-the-sugarloaf-pineapple-became-the-champagne-of-benin) benefits for both consumers and producers. #### **So how does it work?** GIs can be domestic or international. Domestic GIs are protected by local governments, while international GIs are protected by the [TRIPS agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIPS_Agreement), which falls under the World Trade Organization (WTO). Once approved for GI status, the labels function similarly to trademarks. - **For consumers,** GIs act as a quality guarantee and can signify that a product meets certain production standards - **For producers,** GIs can help allow local communities to invest in their unique production process, while also allowing them to boost distribution and raise prices Case in point: The average premium for foods with a GI label is 43%. For wine, it’s 300%. #### **Higher prices…** … can have an outsize impact in regions that depend on farming. In Benin, a West African country that just secured its first GI label for the coveted sugarloaf pineapple, 38% of the population works on farms, and 45% live on less than $1.90 per day. How lucrative can GIs be? Just look at the EU, which reportedly [logged](https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2020/04/22/Geographical-Indications-worth-a-mouth-watering-75-billion-study) **~$84B** in sales from goods marked with GIs in 2017. 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