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Within the framework of the International Olive Council’s (IOC) promotion activities, this intergovernmental organisation concedes grants to national activities aimed at promoting the local consumption of olive oil and table olives. Eligible to such grants are the forty-four countries that make up the IOC’s member states, which span all across the Mediterranean basin and far beyond.
On a yearly basis, the IOC’s Executive Secretariat announces a call for proposals for projects centred around the consumption of the olive tree’s products. The objectives of this promotional strategy are primordially to build up a market culture in IOC member countries, to boost the visibility and quality of local products, and to enhance the cooperation amongst these nations in terms of their olive oil sectors.
2023 marks a great success as regards to the number of applications received – the number of submitted projects has almost tripled since last year! – something which can be directly attributed to several improvements in the grant application and management system recently implemented by the Secretariat. Amongst these developments are, for example, the extension of grants to projects with a duration of up to four years in length, as well as the digitalisation of the submission process which now is done exclusively through the Organisation’s website.
This year, the IOC received thirty-one proposals (fifteen for annual projects and sixteen for multi-annual projects) from twelve different countries. Out of these, this international organisation which is solely focused on the olive tree and its marvellous products, has awarded a total of fourteen grants to projects from the following countries: France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Türkiye and Uruguay. All of the information regarding the national entities that will implement said grants will be published on the IOC’s website in the upcoming weeks.
Over the next year, the IOC’s Economy and Promotion Unit will pay particularly close attention to monitoring the multi-annual grants, which will begin for the first time in 2024, and will continue devoting its efforts to improving the application system for this important activity.
