The second UK Multi-Actor Platform (MAP) meeting took place online on 10 December, bringing together 19 stakeholders from across the food and drink sector, government, research institutions and civil society. The meeting aimed to share latest consumer research findings from the GI SMART project and discuss opportunities and benefits for the UK MAP to get involved.
Since its launch in June 2025, the UK MAP has grown steadily and now includes 59 members. These represent a wide range of interests, including Geographical Indication (GI) / Protected Food Name (PFN) producer groups, food and drink industry actors, researchers, government bodies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, NGOs, media and marketing organisations. The UK MAP is part of the wider European network of MAPs, linking over 350 GI stakeholders across nine European countries’ national MAPs and the EU-level MAP.
A key focus of the meeting, led by the Newcastle University team, was to highlight ongoing challenges emphasised at the launch meeting, around low consumer awareness and understanding of GIs and PFNs. These issues lead to limited consumer engagement and make it difficult for producers to realise the full value of GI registration. The Newcastle team shared emerging evidence from latest consumer research and outlined collaboration opportunities for MAP members. These include producer–consumer dialogue events (World Cafés) to strengthen consumer engagement and mutual trust, eye-tracking and online experiments to enhance consumer engagement and test GI messaging appeals, and student-led projects to address GI marketing and sustainability challenges.
An interactive session invited participants to suggest strategies to improve consumer awareness and engagement. Ideas included national and regional communication campaigns, clearer and simpler messaging focused on quality and provenance rather than acronym terminology (e.g. GI, PFN), better visibility in retail settings, greater use of social media, collaboration with chefs and influencers, and closer links with tourism through food trails and heritage events. Education also featured strongly, with suggestions to embed GI awareness into school curricula and community initiatives.
Stakeholders were also asked to share their New Year’s aspirations for GIs. Common themes included securing new high-quality GIs in the UK, launching a coordinated national promotion campaign, improving collaboration and knowledge-sharing with European/ national partners particularly around export markets, and expanding innovative tools and educational resources to raise long-term awareness starting from schools.
Looking ahead, stakeholders were encouraged to promote the UK MAP within their networks, contribute ideas for upcoming events and get in touch to explore industry-research collaboration opportunities tackling GI sustainability challenges.
The meeting concluded with an open discussion and reflections from attendees highlighting sustainability requirements, ongoing challenges, regional opportunities for hosting future World Cafés, and the need to simplify communication around the GI and PFN schemes.