Endogenous Products. What Are They, Exactly?

Endogenous products are products of the land and the sea which, within the production process, carry particular characteristics — seasonality, production methods and others — and undergo a transformation that makes them special and unique, and which can differ from region to region.

As examples we might highlight Serra da Estrela cheese, Dão wine and Montalegre smoked meats, among many others, all distinctive and powerful engines of development in the various regions of the country.

Portugal is a country rich in endogenous products, with a truly extraordinary variety from region to region, including products that are not widely known and for which promotion and outreach matter.

Do you know the Aljezur sweet potato? It is impossible to resist the Aljezur sweet potato (PGI – Protected Geographical Indication), which takes pride of place at one of the best food festivals in the Algarve, the Aljezur Sweet Potato Festival. And the Covilhã cherovia? Also known as parsnip, the cherovia is a root vegetable with some similarities to the carrot. White, conical, longer and thicker than the carrot, it has a sweet, intense flavour.

The secret of endogenous products? The flavour!

Suggestions

– Visit Portugal and discover the richness of its endogenous products; it will certainly be an unforgettable journey of flavours.

– Look after what is national, what is ours, and consume endogenous products.

– Be an endogenous entrepreneur and grow your region's endogenous products for your own consumption.

RURIS

Ruris develops strategies for the design and delivery of promotion strategies for territories and endogenous products.