Comparison
AOC vs IGP
What is the difference between AOC and IGP on a French cider or calvados label?
In short
Appellation d’origine contrôlée is the French national instrument, administered by INAO, and it corresponds to the European AOP — in English, PDO. Indication géographique protégée is the French rendering of the European PGI. So the AOC/IGP pair maps onto the PDO/PGI pair rather than sitting outside it.
The requirements follow accordingly. An AOC cider or calvados is bound to its area for the whole chain, and its cahier des charges commonly specifies orchard location, permitted varieties, method and minimum ageing. An IGP requires a weaker but still real link.
On labels the terms are used inconsistently in translation: a French producer may print AOC, AOP or both. They are the same protection at national and European level.
The two things being compared
Each side described in its own terms first, so the table below has something to hang on.
AOC
Appellation d’origine contrôlée — the French national appellation, administered by INAO, corresponding to the European AOP and to PDO in English.
IGP
Indication géographique protégée — the French form of the European PGI, requiring a link to place through at least one production stage.
Where they differ
Dimension by dimension. Where a row needs a qualification, it carries one rather than being simplified until it fits.
| Dimension | AOC | IGP |
|---|---|---|
| European equivalent | AOP, and PDO in English. | PGI in English. |
| Chain requirement | The whole chain in the defined area. | At least one stage. |
| Administering body | INAO. | Also within the French and European geographical-indication framework. |
| What the specification typically covers for cider | Orchard zone, permitted cultivars, planting density, minimum juice content, fermentation and carbonation method. | Generally a lighter specification with more scope on raw material. |
| Cider and spirit examples | Cidre du Pays d’Auge, Poiré Domfront, Calvados and its sub-appellations, and the pommeaux. | Used for regional French products whose link to place is real but less total. |
| Label wordingThe AOC/AOP variation reflects the national and European names for one protection, not two levels of it. | May appear as AOC or AOP, sometimes both. | Appears as IGP. |
Notes under a dimension name qualify the whole row, not one column.
When AOC is the relevant one
The circumstances in which this is the thing being described, rather than a reason to prefer it.
- The product is bound to its area at every stage and carries a cahier des charges.
- You are reading a Normandy or Breton cider or a calvados label.
When IGP is the relevant one
The circumstances in which this is the thing being described, rather than a reason to prefer it.
- The link to place runs through one stage and a regional reputation.
- You are matching a French label to its European equivalent.
A misconception worth clearing up
This comparison exists partly because of the claim below, which is repeated often enough that most readers arrive holding it.
AOC is a French system separate from and stronger than the European one.
What is actually the case: It sits inside the European framework as the national expression of AOP, which is PDO. AOC predates the European scheme and supplied much of its design, but it is not a parallel scheme standing above the European one.
Related comparisons
Distinctions that turn on the same thing, or that this one is routinely confused with.
PDO vs PGI
Both are geographical protections, but a PDO requires every stage from fruit to finished product to happen in the named area, while a PGI requires only that one stage does and that the reputation is linked to the place.
Cider vs calvados
Calvados is cider distilled and then aged in oak; the cider is the raw material, and the appellation rules govern both the cider that goes in and the spirit that comes out.
Normandy vs Brittany
Two adjacent French cider regions with different emphases: Normandy’s appellations centre on keeved *cidre* and the calvados and pommeau built from it, while Brittany’s tradition runs to drier, more rustic cider with its own varieties and its own Cornouaille appellation.
What people ask next
Questions readers ask about the things this page mentions. Each one goes to the section that answers it rather than to a page written to receive the question.
- What is the difference between pdo and pgi on a cider label — A protected designation of origin requires every stage of production to happen in the named place; a protected geographical indication requires only that one stage does. That is why the French appellations of origin forbid concentrate and added water while the French geographical indications permit both.
- Is calvados made from cider
- What is the difference between normandy and breton cider
Where to go next
- All comparisons — The rest of the pairs, grouped by what kind of difference is at stake.
- Glossary — Either term on its own, defined without a second thing to hold it against.
- Learn about cider — The background these pages assume, written from the beginning.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (INAO)
INAO · regulator · passage verified 2026-08-24
The Cidre Pays d’Auge cahier des charges was read in full on 2026-08-24, in the version homologated by arrêté of 17 January 2026 and published in the Journal officiel on 21 January. That qualification is not decoration. A revision adopted by the Comité national on 10 September 2025 is currently under the procédure nationale d’opposition, is clearly marked as not prejudging the final text, and specifies carbonation differently from the text in force — as grams of CO2 per litre rather than as a minimum pressure in bar. A summary citing the draft would have put a figure on the page that no producer is held to. CiderHQ records the operative text and says which one it is.
eAmbrosia — the EU geographical indications register
European Commission · designation authority · registered as competent for this subject
The single authoritative register of EU PDO, PGI and TSG names, carrying each product specification. Cider and perry designations across France, Spain and elsewhere resolve here.
European Union · legislation · retrieved 2026-08-24