Orkney - European Score 100/100

European Score analysis

Lactalis' Orkney is a cheddar slice product that achieves a perfect European Score of 100, with 35 points for the company's French headquarters, 35 for manufacturing, 10 for ingredients, 15 for distribution, 5 for certifications, and 5 for proximity. Despite the company being French-headquartered, the product's origins are traced to the United Kingdom, specifically Great Britain and Scotland — the Orkney Islands being the geographical reference in the product name.

The product carries both PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI labels, indicating that its geographical identity and production method are formally recognised under European-style protected food name schemes. These certifications account for the full 5-point certifications allocation.

Within the cheddar slices category, the product ranks at the 80th percentile across 49 products assessed, placing it in the upper fifth of the field. For a European-minded shopper, the perfect score reflects that Lactalis — a major French dairy group — handles the commercial and distribution aspects, while the cheese itself is tied to a specific British geographical origin with formal designation status. The PDO and PGI labels provide the kind of provenance verification that the European Score framework rewards, even where the ingredient origins lie outside mainland Europe.