The Regional Government of the Azores has organised a regional campaign for the promotion of Azorean agricultural products. The campaign commences on Monday.

The initiative was jointly announced by the Regional Secretaries for the Economy and that of Agriculture and Forestry at a press conference held on Wednesday at the Tourism and Hotelier Vocational Training School, at Portas do Mar (Sea Gates), in the city of Ponta Delgada.

This promotional campaign is part of the Marketing Operational Plan, presented in July by the Regional Government, whose purpose is to secure new markets for the agricultural products of the Azores.

The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry emphasised that this is “yet another step in the history of this sector that began with the modernisation of its productive structures and the concomitant aim of offering high-quality products.” These sensitisation campaigns aim to promote food-safety standards and ensure the safeguarding of public health.

The aim of this campaign is to contribute to the valorisation and promotion of regional agricultural products, adding market value and stimulating Azoreans to buy local products with a view to ensuring the sustainability of the regional economy.

This campaign will address several themes due to the diversity of local products, such as milk, beef and other products that are included in the programme of agricultural diversification.

In order to support Azorean producers and entrepreneurs, the Regional Government initiated an investment project to improve access to value market chains. This project was enacted by a Decree emitted by the Regional Secretariat for the Economy which authorises the granting of governmental support to stimulate the inter-island commerce of these products and their exportation to external markets.

Legislation was enacted to support the renovation of the image of several regional products so as to ensure that local companies can create “attractive brands, labels and packages that are able to enter into increasingly competitive markets.”
 
Included in this programme are other promotional initiatives of the Regional Government such as the participation of regional entrepreneurs in fairs and national and international events that can provide new business opportunities, contacts and partners in the promotion of regional products.

The Regional Government of the Azores has also provided local companies with the possibility of using the “Brand Azores” so as to ensure that their products benefit from a common marketing strategy.