There's been beef between Germany and Türkiye over the döner kebab these past few months. Now, the food fight has kicked up a notch with Berlin appealing Ankara's attempt to have the street food given EU protection status.
The vertical rotisserie wars started in April when Türkiye filed an application to register the name döner as its “guaranteed traditional speciality” across Europe.
While Türkiye does not belong to the European Union, third countries may register products for protection.
The country wants its best-known foodstuff to have the same protection as Parma or Serrano ham, for instance, meaning that the name can only be used only by producers conforming to the registered production method and product specifications.
If Ankara's application is successful, only beef and lamb “horizontally sliced into cutlets with a thickness of 3-5 mm” could be sold as döner, and ground meat would be banned.
According to the text of the submission, supported by the Association of Turkish Döner Producers in Europe (ATDID), the döner economy in Europe is estimated to be worth roughly €3.5bn. And Germany, claiming to being the birthplace of the döner kebab as it is now consumed, is a large part of that number. The döner remains the country's most eaten street food, with some two million döner kebabs consumed a day in Germany, according to Gürsel Ülber, spokesman for ATDiD.
Germany argues this protection would create not only a bureaucratic nightmare but drive up the price of the döner – which has already fallen victim to inflation, with the average price rising from €4 to €8.
The far-left Die Linke party called for parliament to introduce a Dönerpreisbremse – a döner price cap – saying that kebab prices have surged to €10 in some German cities.
“When young people demand: ‘Olaf (German Chancellor Olaf Scholz), make the kebab cheaper,' this is not an internet joke, but a serious call for help!” wrote Kathi Gebel, a member of Die Linke's executive committee, in a manifesto.
With that in mind, Berlin has filed its veto just ahead of a European deadline on Wednesday (24 July).
Ingrid Hartges, head of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association, told local media that if Türkiye is successful in its registration, the new rules would have “catastrophic consequences for gastronomy businesses as well as consumers.”
“It's an attack on Germany's cultural identity,” said Berlin sociologist Eberhard Seidel in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Germany and Türkiye now have six months to find common ground and a compromise. Failing to do so, the European Commission will have to rule on the dispute.
Additional sources • ATDiD, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
