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The Executive Director was awarded the Cultura dell’Olio 2024 prize
The 13th edition of the Olio Officina Festival took place in Milan, Italy, from Thursday 29 February to Saturday 2 March. Jaime Lillo, the IOC’s Executive Director, was invited amongst the event’s guests of honor. On the occasion, he gave a presentation on the current state of the world olive oil sector, and was awarded with one of the Cultura dell’Olio (Olive Culture) prizes for his new appointment and the vision he shares about the sector’s future and the IOC’s pivotal role.
At the invitation of Luigi Caricato – festival director and renowned writer, journalist and olive oil expert – the IOC’s Executive Director provided the festival’s attendees with an overview of the olive oil sector’s current state of affairs and the challenges faced by the industry. He emphasized the urgent need to strengthen the IOC’s role, the world’s only intergovernmental organization dedicated exclusively to the olive tree, in organizing and coordinating policy activities. Lillo also put the spotlight on the importance of enhancing consumer’s knowledge about olive oil’s countless health attributes, and olive groves’ key role in addressing climate change acting as carbon sinks. Later that day, the event organizers awarded him with the aforementioned Cultura dell’Olio prize in recognition of the renewed vision and direction he aims to bring to the IOC, particularly in terms of putting at the forefront the inherent opportunities that lie at the core of the olive tree’s products.
The Olio Officina Festival is devoted to the incalculable value of extra virgin olive oil. The three-day event offers a review of international olive oils, tasting sessions and workshops, and a number of talks, presentations and innovative art pieces that put the olive tree’s fruit at the center of the conversation. The full program of the 2024 edition can be downloaded here.
