Ossau-iratY AOP - European Score 100/100

European Score analysis

Istara's Ossau-Iraty AOP is a Basque sheep's cheese achieving a perfect European Score of 100, with the protected designation of origin certification anchoring both its identity and its certifications sub-score. The breakdown gives 35 points to company headquarters, 35 to manufacturing, 15 to distribution, 7 to ingredients, 5 to certifications, and 5 to proximity. The ingredients sub-score of 7 is the lower end of the range, but the PDO label — confirmed as Ossau-Iraty — secures the full certifications points. Manufacturing is located in Larceveau-Arros-Cibits, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aquitaine, within the Pyrénéfrom facility, which is part of the Lactalis group. The PDO status guarantees that production and raw materials meet the strict geographic and quality criteria defined for Ossau-Iraty. Within the Ossau-Iraty cheeses category, which contains 15 products, this cheese ranks above 40% of its peers — a below-median position in a small and highly specialised category where most competitors are similarly PDO-certified with Basque or Béarnais origins. The competitive intensity within such a tightly defined protected designation category explains the moderate percentile despite the maximum overall score.