The Vice-President of the Government stated in Horta that the Azores Brand "has registered a significant adherence by Azorean companies," revealing that the existence of over 1,400 certified products.
Sérgio Ávila spoke at the Legislative Assembly during the discussion of a legal document submitted by the Regional Government defining the membership system for the Azores Brand and the respective offence proceedings, which was approved by the Parliament.
For the Vice-President, this legal document also aims to define "essential and structural matters pertaining to the Azores Brand as well as to implement offence proceedings to prevent and penalise the misuse of this brand."
"This is an extremely important classification since it is based on a unique image that distinguishes Azorean products and generates added value in terms of market penetration, namely in domestic markets," stressed the government official.
The Vice-President stressed that "this initiative has resulted in a very significant increase in sales" since the implementation of the Azores Brand in February 2015. Now, as a second step, it is time to "strengthen the identification of the brand in the national context."
Apart from "a number of advertising campaigns promoted across the country, already concluded or in progress, we will organise a campaign for the specific promotion of products bearing the Azores Brand seal. It starts on September 20 in 25 Continente supermarkets, reaching a potential of four and a half million consumers."
According to the Vice-President, the ultimate goal is to the make the Azores Brand not only "a quality symbol certified by Nature and a unique brand of reference and quality of Azorean products, but also a brand that can be easily recognised by national consumers so that they may consider it in their purchasing decisions."
"This will yield very positive effects on the regional economy, on the companies that produce products using endogenous resources and, especially, on job creation in this area," said Sérgio Ávila.