# Italy holds 402 of the world's 696 Slow Food presidia

> Slow Food's database listed 402 presidia in Italy out of 696 worldwide in September 2026. It is a second register, separate from the EU's 888 indications.

URL: https://myitalia.it/stories/402-slow-food-presidia
Last updated: 2026-09-11

Italy has 402 of the 696 Slow Food presidia in the foundation's database, counted on September 1, 2026, which is more than half the world total, and they sit on a register that is separate from the EU system of DOP and IGP names.

## 402 out of 696, counted from the database

The figure is a count of records, not a number from a press release. Filtering the database of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity by country returned 402 results for Italy on September 1, 2026, and 696 with no filter.

That makes the count dynamic. It moves as projects open and close, and it can include presidia that have been archived, so read 402 as the state of the database on that day rather than a certified total.

The foundation's own editorial page still describes the project as around 600 presidia in 70 countries, with no year attached. The gap between 600 and 696 is the gap between a rounded description and a live list, and neither is wrong on its own terms.

## Two registers that measure different things

A Slow Food presidium is a project listed by a foundation, while a DOP or an IGP is a name registered in the European Union. One is kept by a private body under its own criteria, the other is a legal register maintained at EU level.

Nothing forces the two lists to agree. A product can be a presidium without an EU name, and an EU name tells you nothing about whether Slow Food has a project around it. Treat them as two separate answers to two separate questions.

## The EU side: 888 names

Italy has 888 geographical indications registered in the EU in 2026: 330 food products, 522 wines and 36 spirits. Four traditional specialities guaranteed, the STG, are counted apart, because they aren't geographical indications.

On food alone Italy leads the Union, with 330 registered DOP and IGP products against 282 for France and 229 for Spain.

## Where Italy's weight is heavier

With 402 of 696, Italy holds more than half of the foundation's presidia worldwide, a larger share than it has of anything on the EU side. On the EU register it is first, but far from a majority.

A cautious reading: the presidia measure how many small projects one organisation has chosen to back, and a register built by one organisation reflects where that organisation works. It is a map of attention as much as a map of food.

## What it changes at a market stall

A DOP or IGP mark is a legal claim tied to a name registered in the EU, and you can check it on the Union's register. The word presidio on a stall is Slow Food's, and the place to check it is the foundation's own database. That is where label reading matters to you.

Neither label is a ranking of taste. They tell you who stands behind a name, a public register in one case and a foundation in the other, and that is useful to know before you pay more for either.

## Why the count will change

The 402 is a snapshot, and it will not hold for long. The database is updated as projects are added or archived, so a count taken next year will almost certainly differ, in either direction.

If you're writing a shopping list around presidia, start from the foundation's search rather than any printed figure, including this one, and treat any count older than a year with the same caution. The EU names are steadier: they change by regulation, one registration at a time.

The products themselves are at [Slow Food presidia](/food/presidi-slow-food), the EU system at [DOP and IGP](/themes/dop-igp), and what those names are worth at [the DOP economy](/food/dop-igp-economy).

## FAQ

### How many Slow Food presidia are there in Italy?

402, counted in the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity database on September 1, 2026, out of 696 worldwide. It's a live database count rather than a published figure, so it moves over time and can include presidia that have since been archived.

### Is a Slow Food presidium the same as a DOP?

No. DOP and IGP are names registered in the EU, and Italy has 888 geographical indications across food, wine and spirits in 2026. A presidium is a project listed by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, a register kept by a foundation, not by law.

### Why does Slow Food say around 600 presidia?

Its editorial page describes the project as around 600 presidia in 70 countries, with no year attached. The foundation's own database returned 696 records on September 1, 2026. Use the database count for a current figure and the 600 only as an order of magnitude.

### Which EU country has the most food DOPs and IGPs?

Italy, with 330 registered food products in 2026 against 282 for France and 229 for Spain. Adding wines and spirits, Italy's total rises to 888 geographical indications, plus 4 traditional specialities counted separately.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Presidi Slow Food attivi in Italia sono 402 (settembre 2026), su circa 696 in tutto il mondo. | [Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversita - banca dati Presidi](https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/it/presidi-slow-food/) | medium | 2027-09-01 |
| La Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversita descrive il progetto Presidi come composto da circa 600 Presidi in 70 Paesi. | [Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversita](https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/it/cosa-facciamo/i-presidi/) | medium | 2027-09-01 |
| Sommando cibo, vino e bevande spiritose, l'Italia ha 888 indicazioni geografiche registrate nell'UE (330 agroalimentari + 522 vini + 36 spiritose), piu 4 STG, al 2026. | [Commissione europea - DG AGRI, registro eAmbrosia](https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eambrosia/geographical-indications-register/); [MASAF - Elenchi e disciplinari vini DOP e IGP](https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/4625); [MASAF - Elenco DOP e IGP prodotti agricoli (PDF, agg. 11/06/2026)](https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Fa%252F2%252FD.e7bdb4ebe6d458c7925a/P/BLOB%3AID%3D15453/E/pdf?mode=download) | high | 2027-06-30 |
| L'Italia e prima nell'UE anche per soli prodotti agroalimentari DOP e IGP: 330 nel 2026, davanti a Francia (282) e Spagna (229). | [Commissione europea - DG AGRI, registro eAmbrosia](https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eambrosia/geographical-indications-register/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/food.presidi-slow-food.v2.1600.jpg
Author: Alessandro Vargiu. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salone_del_Gusto_2016_Piazza_Castello_Torino.jpg

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/storie/402-slow-food-presidia.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/historias/402-slow-food-presidia.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/recits/402-slow-food-presidia.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/geschichten/402-slow-food-presidia.md