Bean of Soissons officially recognized as Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)

Filed in June 2020 with the INAO, the request for recognition “Protected Geographical Indication” of the Bean of Soissons has just been announced, this Friday, June 2, 2023, by the European Commission. A news that delights the producers and which gives more visibility to this culinary heritage of the Aisne.

The new jacket fell this Friday, June 2 and was greeted with great enthusiasm by producers in the region and the Aisne department. The Bean of Soissons has just been officially recognized as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).

The PGI is a European label which designates “a product whose characteristics are linked to the geographical location in which at least its production, processing or processing takes place“, indicates the Ministry of Economy on its website.

The National Institute for Origin and Quality (INAO) adds that this Europe-wide protection provides recognition that “promotes the practices developed over the centuries by local producers“.

On the producers’ side, the path towards this labeling began more than 20 years ago, when the Haricot de Soissons was endangered “while it had its heyday towards the end of the 19th century and between the two wars“, launches Didier Cassemiche, president of the Association of Soissons bean producers.

When the cultivation of this bean was relaunched – around 2003 – with the collaboration of a number of organizations (such as the Aisne Chamber of Agriculture or even the Gastronomic brotherhood of the Bean of Soissons), there were only two or three producers left in the Ailette Valley.

“Immediately came the idea of ​​entering into a process of quality products“et d’get a label.”Since 2003, we have gone through ups and downs. We had consulting firms to help us. There were phases of euphoria, phases of disappointment“which led to wondering whether to give up”this process“of labeling…until the moment they have”been able to benefit from services of the Region, linked to the merger of the regions“.

In fact, the organization qualimentary, located in Saint-André-les-Lille (Nord), specialized in the labeling of agricultural products and financed by the Regional Council, intervened. “We came across professionals with their network, their way of doing things, of working“, continues Didier Cassemiche. This is what has “made things much easier and gave us a lift to our hearts. They briefed and managed us“.

A working group with six producers was set up to draw up the specifications requested by the INAO. “The specifications drawn up were only the written transcription of the practice we had adopted, it hadn’t upset us but it had to be written in a way that everyone could understand.“, he abounds.

For us who are farmers, it was an excellent exercise. We do not necessarily rub shoulders with that world (regional council, INAO, etc.). It is not necessarily our daily life.

Didier Cassemiche, president of the association of Soissons bean producers

The examination of the file at the national level was validated after a game of shuttles between the farmers and the INAO which finally “brought to the level of the European Commission“, when everything was clear. The challenge was “that all these readers have the same understanding of the text“, to grasp the know-how, the serious work and the involvement put into the quality and production of the Haricot de Soissons.

Furthermore, the organization that managed and defended the obtaining of the PGI, “it is the Association of Soissons bean producers“, which brings together the producers “whether they are within the agricultural cooperative or whether they are self-employed“. The objective of the association chaired by Didier Cassemiche is “to federate all these groups and to set up the certification so that our IGP label lives“. This work of certification and recognition is, in his eyes, a collective victory.

Géraldine Toupet, president of the Soissons Bean Agricultural Cooperative, also wanted to express her joy on Facebook. “A big congratulations and a big thank you to all the producers who have worked to achieve this recognition in our territory.“, she wrote on the social network.

For Didier Cassemiche, this protection on a European scale is not a “phew“of relief”but a satisfaction to have done our job correctly“. It is also a victory for the visibility of the product but also that of “of our territory“. He also remarks that “department policies are sensitive” to this IGP.

The Aisne has been known and recognized since the 18th century for its production of dried beans. While many species were grown by producers, only the Soissons bean remained. “It is a very hardy bean in its behavior which has best resisted the vagaries of cultivation“, specifies Didier Cassemiche. His subsistence is the fruit of a “snatural choice of this product, which has adapted well to our region“.

For the anecdote, Didier Cassemiche notes that the bean takes its name “from Soissons“, not because it was cultivated there – cultivation took place between Laon and Soissons at the time -, but because it was loaded there. This is why, in the eyes “Parisians“, the bean has become that of Soissons.

Besides, to recognize it, you have to be careful “its large kidney-shaped grain and its white or ivory color“, notes the INAO on its website. Before tasting, it needs a “12 hour soak. Tenderness and fondant will then be there“.

According to INAO data, in 2021, 11 hectares were cultivated by 19 producers (17 members of a cooperative and two independent producers). As for the average yield, it is “between 2 and 2.5 tonnes per hectare” according to the latest figures from 2019.

A celebration will take place on July 3 in Soissons. The final program remains to be defined. We already know that there will be a historical point on this bean at the “ancestral know-how“or even a tasting time.