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Representatives of Olivérica, a recently created association of Spanish and Portuguese hedge olive growers, met on June 6 with IOC Executive Director Jaime Lillo and part of his team, as well as other officials from the Executive Secretariat.
For Olivérica’s President Gregorio Álvarez Cabreros, “it’s gratifying that the main intergovernmental body dedicated to regulating and promoting the world olive oil market was able to listen to the challenges and objectives of this farmers’ association”. These include “spreading the word about the excellence and health benefits of extra virgin olive oil”, an objective very much in line with the IOC’s mission.
At a meeting at the IOC headquarters in Madrid, the two organizations discussed issues of interest to the olive oil sector, including innovation and new technologies applied to the sector and its products. According to IOC Executive Director Jaime Lillo, “Olivérica promotes values that we share: producing olive oil of excellence, which contributes to the fight against climate change and to feeding the world population in a healthier and more sustainable way”.
In his presentation, Mr. Lillo highlighted a number of strategic areas for collaboration between the IOC and Olivérica: the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil, the internationalization of the product, the sustainability of its production to combat climate change, improving the quality of the oil produced, the search for excellence in the sector, the digitization of processes for greater efficiency in production systems, and so on.
For Olivérica’s President Gregorio Álvarez Cabreros, “following the IOC’s principles to defend the benefits of extra virgin olive oil is an initiative that will have repercussions for the entire sector”. Mr. Álvarez advocated for the technification of production systems to make more efficient use of resources, produce higher quality olive oil, and improve the competitiveness of the olive oil sector.
Olivérica is a non-profit association of hedge olive growers in Spain and Portugal. One of its aims is to represent the interests of these olive growers to the authorities and society at large.
