Put the value of extra virgin olive oil at the center of the supply chain strategy, focusing above all on its health benefits. At Olio Officina Festival, the event dedicated to the world of condiments which has just ended in Milan, Assitol, the Italian Association of the oil industry, shared its strategic vision with the protagonists of the sector, inviting everyone to work together to overcome the difficulties of moment.
In the last olive oil campaign, the lower availability of raw materials, caused by climate change – we read in a note from Assitol – caused the increase in prices and the decline in consumption, in Italy and abroad. Although Puglia, the region with the greatest olive growing vocation, has recorded a production higher than expected, the forecasts for the future appear not very bright. The entire Mediterranean has suffered from drought for months, which has halved the quantities of Spain, the largest producer in the world.
In the talk “Oil market in fibrillation, possible strategies for the future”, Andrea Carrassi, general director of Assitol, recalled this complex picture, relaunching the need to promote the great qualities of extra virgin olive oil.
“Olive oil is an olive juice, not a detergent, it is unacceptable to treat it as a commodity, its ability to provide well-being is unique. This is the right historical moment to convey to the consumer that extra virgin olive oil has a value very precise, therefore it must be paid appropriately, as already happens with wine”.
The need to relaunch olive oil also passes, according to the experts who attended the event, through a relaunch of the health aspects of this food.
“At present – underlined Anna Cane, president of the Assitol olive oil group – it is practically impossible to say on the label how good our extra virgin olive oil is for health and why. The EU legislation must be reviewed, to increase awareness of the product not only in Olive-growing countries like Italy, but also where extra virgin olive oil is little known.” Yet oil is the only food studied on humans and, therefore, truly tested from the point of view of its effects on health. “Medical research has widely recognized the nutritional value of this product – observed the president of the entrepreneurs – but if the language of the consumer is not spoken on the label, it becomes difficult to make known the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil”.
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