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The Olive Growers Cooperative Limited of Malta devoted a national conference to geographical indications and organic production under the title “The olive sector: reaching higher quality through GI quality marks and organic production”. The event, which was held on 1 December in Qormi, is part of the activities marking World Olive Tree Day 2023.
After the opening, the conference welcomed the Maltese Minister for Agriculture, Anton Refalo, who congratulated the government for its efforts to support olive growers and producers while increasing the consumption and production levels of olive oil. The Minister also emphasised the importance of providing an added value for consumers by promoting tourism in the olive oil sector.
The International Olive Council (IOC) was represented by Imene Trabelsi, Head of the IOC’s Promotion Department, who presented the intergovernmental organisation’s activities in the field of economy and promotion. In her intervention, she emphasised the importance of pooling efforts for the dissemination of local olive oil consumption in Malta, and the relevance of adopting effective institutional marketing strategies to this end which can increase consumers’ awareness about the health and sustainable benefits of olive products. Trabelsi seized the opportunity to present the IOC’s promotion activities in member countries, particularly the awarding of annual and multiannual grants for national promotion projects, and encouraged the Maltese authorities to benefit from these. She concluded that, through the intensification of promotional activities in local markets, the noticeable effect of climate change on the increase in prices of the world olive oil market could in fact be mitigated from the demand side.
The event counted on the participation of several international experts and representatives of the Malta Olive Growers Cooperative, the Malta Food Agency and Koperattivi Malta.
The conference coincided with the cooperative’s submission of its application for the acknowledgment of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for their olive oil produced locally.
The event was aimed at enhancing stakeholders’ and the general public’s knowledge regarding how these standards add value to the olive sector’s supply chain. Furthermore, the Maltese Olive Growers Cooperative is actively endorsing the national government’s initiatives to promote organic production within the country’s agricultural sector.
You can read the programme here.
