Why geographical indication is an effective marketing strategy for specialty coffee

• Geographical Indication, or Certification of Origin (CO), protects certain food and beverage products.
• Coffees from specific countries and regions are also legally protected by GI. These certifications are common in countries like Ethiopia, Jamaica, Hawaii, Vietnam, Rwanda, Colombia, Brazil, and across Central America.
• GI for coffee aims to safeguard each region’s bean quality, terroir, and traditional cultivation and processing knowledge.
• The market for GI-protected food and beverages is large and growing. Similar to the cheese and wine industries, GI is emerging as an effective marketing strategy in coffee, assuring authenticity for consumers while offering differentiation and credibility for growers and roasters.
• Brazilian cooperative Expocacer recently helped develop the Cerrado Mineiro Region Seal of Origin, reinforcing and safeguarding its reputation as a specialty coffee producer.

What makes popping a bottle of Champagne so special, or grating fresh Parmigiano Reggiano over pasta such a treat? The fact that no other wine and cheese can replicate those from their respective French and Italian regions.

GI certifications are granted to products that possess intrinsic qualities associated with specific production regions or areas, thereby protecting their heritage and integrity. Historically, they have been associated with European food products, but the concept of terroir also extends to coffee.

More coffee producers are turning to GI certification to assure authenticity, protect their knowledge of production and processing, and potentially command premium prices.

Glaucio de Castro, Mariana Velloso Heitor, and Sandra Moraes at Expocacer explain more about the Cerrado Mineiro Region Seal of Origin and how it benefits Brazilian producers.

You may also like our article on why certifications can help producers command higher prices.

What is Geographical Indication in coffee?

The earliest GI system, appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), dates back to the early 20th century in France. In 1992, the European Union adopted a “protected designation of origin” (PDO) framework to support GI systems across all its member states. 

GI is a legal tool for intellectual property protection; products are defined by the region in which they are produced, meaning they can’t be replicated anywhere in the world. These products have intrinsic qualities associated with specific producing regions and must meet criteria to use the GI label. 

For example, many GI-protected wines must be made with a high percentage of grapes from a specific growing region. These grapes represent the area’s terroir and produce a finished product with distinctive flavours unique to that region.

Another famous example is Roquefort cheese, made from sheep’s milk. To officially bear the Roquefort name, a cheese must be made from the milk of the Lacaune breed of sheep, and aged in natural caves near Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, Aveyron. This is because a specific mould found only in the soil of these caves gives Roquefort cheese its distinctive tangy flavour.

GI also protects coffees from specific countries and regions. These certifications are used in countries like Ethiopia, Jamaica, Hawaii, Vietnam, Rwanda, Colombia, Brazil, and across Central America. 

GI for coffee aims to safeguard a region’s bean quality, terroir, and traditional cultivation and processing knowledge. In addition to upholding a region’s reputation in the global coffee sector, GI coffee can also stimulate rural development and provide a source of cultural identity and pride for producers. 

“What distinguishes coffees produced in Cerrado Mineiro is a set of elements, including the terroir, with its mineral-rich and well-structured soil, which allows for good plant development; the altitude; and, above all, the pioneering spirit of the region’s producers, who constantly invest in the modernisation and sustainable production of their crops,” says Glaucio, a coffee producer and Advisor to the Board of Directors of Expocacer. 

Glaucio is also an Advisor to Brazil’s National Coffee Council and President of the Cerrado Coffee Growers Federation (CCGF), a non-profit organisation created to represent its producers and control the origin and quality of its products.

The Cerrado Mineiro coffee profile is influenced by the region’s hot, humid summers, mild, dry winters, and the unique, uniform ripening of coffee plants – all at altitudes above 800 meters. Cerrado Mineiro coffee has intense aromas ranging from caramel to nuts, with a delicate, citrusy acidity and lingering chocolate flavour notes.

Why interest in GI coffee is growing

The market for GI-protected food and beverages is large and growing. Similar to the cheese and wine industries, GI is emerging as an effective marketing strategy in coffee.

These certifications can serve as a powerful marketing tool that assures consumers of authenticity, while offering differentiation and credibility for growers and roasters. 

Labels indicating coffee origin, elevation, variety, and sustainability characteristics have been found to positively affect consumer willingness to pay premiums. Studies show that consumers expect the quality of GI-labelled coffees to reflect the region’s reputation, and that GI has a promising outlook as a well-known signal of credibility. 

Already, single origin coffees fetch significantly higher retail prices, with 100% Kona coffee from Hawaii and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee being some of the most expensive in the world. By fetching higher prices, GI can increase farmers’ income, boost tourism in coffee regions, and improve rural livelihoods.

For these reasons and more, Expocacer, the Cerrado Coffee Growers’ Cooperative, helped develop a Cerrado Mineiro Region Seal of Origin. The region celebrated 20 years of GI in 2025 and has been recognised in the domestic and foreign markets for its strict quality standards for coffee cultivation and post-harvest practices. 

“Expocacer has played a fundamental role in promoting the Cerrado Mineiro Region Seal of Origin,” says Sandra, Expocacer’s Commercial Manager of Specialty Coffees. “The cooperative actively connects end consumers in international markets with origin, helping ensure that the identity of the coffee produced by its members reaches cafés around the world. 

“We also help define and strengthen quality standards, as our new offering reflects the characteristics of the coffee produced in the region,” she adds. “The seal confirms the region’s potential for consistency in both quality and volume, reinforces its reputation as a producer of specialty coffees, and expands recognition of the Cerrado Mineiro Designation of Origin in the world’s most demanding markets.”

Will the coffee industry increasingly turn to GIs?

Without a doubt, GI is becoming increasingly popular in the global coffee industry as a tool to differentiate products, enhance perceived value, and protect against counterfeiting.

“Geographical Indication is gaining momentum in coffee farming because consumers are increasingly looking for products with identity, authenticity, and proven origin,” says Mariana, the Chair of the Board of Directors of Expocacer. “In the case of coffee, this means valuing not only flavour and quality, but also the history, culture, and unique production conditions of each region.”

The Cerrado Mineiro Region Seal of Origin exemplifies this recognition of unique climatic, geographical, and human characteristics in the final cup. 

“This type of appreciation is fundamental to strengthening producers, differentiating products, and consolidating Brazil as a benchmark for quality coffees with controlled origin,” Mariana adds.

However, as the coffee industry increasingly turns to GI, producers can face hurdles in obtaining and maintaining certifications. The first challenge is the difficulty of developing successful coffee GI schemes due to navigating diverse national legal systems, the lack of relevant research and technical work, and the assessment of regional flavour profiles. 

The producing region must be established as possessing unique and distinctive qualities, and producers must prove that their farming practices are also unique and consistent. 

Once a GI is established, obtaining certification can be expensive and time-consuming for producers. Producers must complete a comprehensive application process with the region’s regulatory body. Thereafter, intensive training programmes for agricultural best practices are often needed to comply with GI standards.

Additionally, some systematic challenges exist in GI schemes. Coffee differs from other GI-certified products because it’s often altered after leaving its place of origin. Therefore, during later stages such as roasting and extraction, its regional characteristics can be significantly altered or lost when beans of different origins are blended. This dilutes the influence and significance of GI in final coffee products, ultimately affecting producers the most. 

Without rigorous regulations and oversight, GI systems can become fraught with manipulation and misuse in the name of profit. Certifications can become merely promotional tools, not necessarily synonymous with high-quality coffee. 

One study of the Indonesian coffee sector shows how GIs can fail to capture tangible economic value for producers if stakeholders don’t prioritise producers and rural development. Therefore, GI certifications can provide significant market advantages for producers only when handled with social responsibility and transparency.

“The Cerrado Mineiro Region Seal of Origin facilitates market access and, through traceability, translates attributes such as terroir, sustainable practices, and consistency, generating transparency and consequently greater recognition for the region and its producers,” Sandra explains. “The collective reputation built by producers, the cooperative, and institutions opens new avenues for access to premium markets, directly benefiting producers.”

Prioritising sustainability and transparency in GI coffee

To address the challenges of GI in coffee, all supply chain actors must prioritise transparency and cooperation.

The Expocacer Controlled Origin Protocol (ECO Protocol) is Expocacer’s internal certification, exclusive to cooperative members, and is recognised by the Global Coffee Platform and the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. The ECO Protocol aims to ensure that coffee production meets environmental, social, and governance standards and that the coffee comes from Cerrado Mineiro, verified by an official seal.

“This is further recognition of the work of our cooperative members, who grow coffee of exceptional quality and are committed to sustainability and traceability,” Mariana says.

The ECO Protocol criteria ensure traceability; each batch of certified coffee is assigned a unique number that allows its entire journey to be traced from the farm to the end consumer. Expocacer can verify the origin and practices adopted at each stage of the production chain with complete transparency.

“This traceability is essential because it adds trust to the product, value to the brand, and security to the market, as well as allowing consumers to know and recognise the producer behind the cup,” Mariana adds.

The ECO Protocol benefits producers by improving their access to more demanding domestic and international markets and by serving as a diagnostic tool for continuous improvement of farm practices.

The CO for Cerrado Mineiro coffee protects producers in the region and promotes appreciation for their skills and traditional farming and processing methods. 

“The initiative also seeks to highlight the quality and unique characteristics of the territory, strengthening the identity of the producers belonging to the cooperative and who are part of the region,” Glaucio says. 

This unique product and strengthened regional identity promote economic and cultural development.

The CCGF has helped strengthen the Cerrado Mineiro GI across the entire Brazilian coffee sector. The federation actively protects the authenticity of Cerrado Mineiro coffee through the CO, ensuring that only accredited producers use the seal of origin. In addition, the CCGF frequently participates in national and international events to protect and promote the CO among roasters, coffee shops, and consumers. 

“Expocacer is proud of the Cerrado Mineiro Region’s achievement of GI, maintaining demand for coffee produced in the region and ensuring a continuous supply to global markets,” says Sandra. “We continuously invest in enhancing GI, expanding markets that value the sensory attributes conferred by the soil characteristics, climate, and practices developed in the Cerrado Mineiro region. 

“We’re also innovating with digital systems such as the Coffee Chain Platform, which transparently provides full traceability of coffee and promotes the region and its cooperative members.”

The platform provides buyers with extensive data on each available lot, including producer background, sensory profiles, origin details, and complete traceability records. For producers, the platform reduces the number of intermediaries, ensures transaction authenticity, and builds trust across global supply chains.

The Coffee Chain Auction will take place on 11 & 12 December 2025, featuring specialty lots from Expocacer’s Essências programme.

As consumers increasingly turn to certifications for reassurance of quality and origin, GI is emerging as an effective marketing tool for producers to command higher prices, guarantee traceability, and protect intellectual property.

Challenges around GI and CO persist, but with the right level of support, the coffee industry will increasingly utilise these certifications to the benefit of producers, roasters, and consumers.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article on how terroir affects coffee.

Photo credits: Expocacer

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