Why Dundee cake is out and Welsh honey is in – the UK food products fighting for protected status

Any visitor to Melton Mowbray will be able to tell how important the pork pie is to the food culture of this Leicestershire market town. The portable pastry parcels have helped put this place on the culinary map. At Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, a Grade II-listed building that first opened as a bakery in 1851, the savoury treat attracts fans from the UK and beyond, and has spawned a thriving online retail business. The worldwide renown of this hearty lunch has been helped by its Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, awarded by the EU in 2009.

The Melton Mowbray pork pie is just one of 99 UK food and drink products currently registered under the Geographical Indication (GI) scheme, which has been managed by Defra (the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) since January 2021. This protection, signified by a black and white logo, guarantees the unique characteristics of the Melton Mowbray pork pie, ensuring that customers from Torquay to Tokyo know they’re getting the real deal. A quick skim of the list of registered UK products includes some familiar names – Cornish pasties, Scotch beef, stilton, Welsh leeks – as well as more obscure entries, from Lough Neagh pollan (a freshwater white fish) to the Vale of Clwyd Denbigh plum and New Forest pannage ham.

Hoping to join their hallowed ranks in 2026 are six more products from across the UK, including Tewkesbury mustard and the Teesside parmo, a fast food favourite in north-east England. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen made it one of his 2017 electoral pledges to get protected status for the deep-fried, breaded chicken breast (or pork cutlet) covered in béchamel sauce and melted cheese. It’s easy to understand why producers and local representatives are keen to join the scheme: a 2020 study by the European Commission showed that products with a protected name can achieve double the sales value of similar products that aren’t registered.

In July 2021, Houchen got one step closer to his goal when he submitted an application for the parmo to gain Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status. This first tier of quality mark protects foods with a “specific character” and does not require a link to a named region, though it must use traditional methods or follow a traditional recipe. Current examples include watercress and Gloucestershire Old Spots pork. Houchen’s application is still under consideration.

To gain the more stringent Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status – a level up from TSG – a product must carry out at least one important stage of preparation in the geographical area identified in the application. Take Armagh Bramley apples – a firm-textured, tangy variety that can only be grown in 33 named parishes across the counties of Armagh, Tyrone and Londonderry. There's also Yorkshire wensleydale, which is produced in the area surrounding the market town of Hawes in North Yorkshire.

Of course, securing GI status isn’t just about proving a link to a particular place – it’s also about demonstrating the quality and authenticity of a product. Often, a huge amount of skill and local knowledge has gone into making it. David Wainwright is a beekeeper who harvests Welsh heather honey, one of the latest foods to gain PGI status, having earned it in March 2025. The window for obtaining the unique honey can be very short – sometimes just days – and requires knowledge of Wales’ unpredictable weather and its impact on bee behaviour. Producers must move their hives to sites close to the heather moorland that provides the bees with their source of nectar, usually towards the end of July.

“It has to be warm with no strong winds or rain,” Wainwright explains. “Occasionally, it all comes right and you get a lovely, warm sunny day”, but in 2025, the calm weather “just stopped". In a good year, production can be as high as 30kg per hive; for the most recent harvest it was down to three – “for the same amount of work,” Wainwright adds ruefully. Although gaining the PGI can’t help to increase his crop, “what it does is let more people know about the product." Wainwright’s Welsh heather honey is sold through independent stockists as well as under the Fortnum & Mason brand, where a 275g jar sells for £8.95.

For Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status, the strictest designation under the UK scheme, applicants must describe how features of the geographical area influence the characteristics of the product. Only 28 UK foods have achieved this highest accolade. A much-loved example is Cornish clotted cream: it's made from milk with the highest butterfat content in England and Wales, which comes from cows that graze on carotene-rich grass, all of which contributes to its characteristic golden yellow colour and nutty flavour. With a history possibly dating back to the Phoenicians in 300BC, the reputation and heritage of Cornish clotted cream was preserved when it was awarded PDO status in 1998. It was given a further boost when it also received protection in Japan in 2024 alongside 36 other UK products, in a move that ensures the name can’t be copied by Japanese producers.

Given the rigour and time involved in securing protected status, it’s not surprising that the path to achieving recognition doesn’t always run smooth. In January 2021, Dundee’s Baker Trade Committee, supported by the local council, applied to Defra for PGI status for the almond-topped Dundee cake that’s been produced in the city since the 19th century. Having originally lodged a bid with Brussels in 2013, its submission was rejected in May 2023, with the Secretary of State concluding that the name ‘Dundee cake’ is generic, and therefore its link to the Scottish city could not be enshrined in law. Campaign coordinator Martin Goodfellow, director at Scottish craft bakery chain Goodfellow & Steven, was disappointed with the ruling and said at the time that the team behind the bid would appeal.

Lincolnshire sausages faced a similar fate in 2012 – in that case, the application was turned down because there ‘was not a strong enough local link’ to the county that provided the name.

Just four UK products achieved GI status in 2025, all of them from Wales: Dovey native botanical gin, Pembrokeshire native oysters, Pembrokeshire rock oysters, and Welsh heather honey. Could 2026 be the year in which Tewkesbury mustard, English whisky and the Teesside parmo are recognised for their unique regional heritage and quality, joining the likes of Parmigiano Reggiano, champagne and Kalamata olives? The wait begins.

Five British GI products to try

Many of the country’s protected foods can be enjoyed for less than the price of a pint. Here are five to seek out:

Ayrshire earlies

Known for their earthy, nutty flavour and aroma, plus a creamy, firm texture, these are Scotland’s premier new potatoes. Look out for them between May and the end of July.

Beacon Fell traditional lancashire cheese

This creamy cow’s milk cheese is made by just 11 producers in the county, using a method taught and passed down since the late 1800s.

Try: Singleton’s Creamy Lancashire (£4, Bowes Dairy) and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Beacon Fell Creamy Lancashire Cheese (£3.75, Sainsbury’s)

Carmarthen ham

The only British cured ham with PGI status, it has a delicate, mellow flavour and silky texture, and is said to rival other air-dried charcuterie, such as prosciutto di Parma or jamón de Serrano.

Try: Carmarthen ham (£6, Carmarthen Deli or Farm Fetch)

Cornish clotted cream

Originally produced to extend the life of milk high in butterfat through the warmer months, this luxurious treat is now an essential component of any cream tea, served from Madeira to Malaysia.

Try: Rodda’s (£2.10, Ocado and widely available) and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference (£2.40, Sainsbury’s)

Yorkshire forced rhubarb

This intensely coloured, slender rhubarb comes from a nine-square-mile triangle of West Yorkshire, and is prized by chefs during its short season from January to March.

Try: Tomlinson rhubarb (£6.99 for 1kg, The Green Berry)