WOOE Conference: Olive oil under examination by the most renowned experts in the sector

Under the slogan "Challenges of the post-COVID-19 olive sector" the WOOE Days were held on June 29th and 30th, bringing together the most renowned experts in the olive oil sector. Held virtually through Zoom, this meeting managed to bring together more than 400 people from the olive oil sector (producers, mills, cooperatives, distributors, etc.) and other sectors, such as banking or education, connected from 14 countries.

"Current situation of the olive oil processing sector. Trends, challenges and strategies" was the title of the first round table moderated by the international olive oil analyst and strategic consultant Juan Vilar, with the participation of Gabriel Estévez, head of olive oil purchasing at Sovena; Antonio Gallego, commercial director of the Migasa Group and president of ASOLIVA; Rafael Sánchez de Puerta, general director of Dcoop and Ignacio Silva, president of Deoleo. 

All agreed that it is necessary to increase the promotion of the product in order to encourage consumption and adapt it to the current offer. Gabriel Estévez warned of the serious consequences for the sector if the United States were to raise tariffs to 100%, as can be seen in the future. On the other hand, Sánchez de Puerta commented on the vital and strategic capacity of supply concentration as a key element in improving the income of olive growers. Antonio Gallego, supported by other participants, pointed out that the test panel must be adapted to the current situation in order to be more sophisticated and effective. Ignacio Silva stated that quality and listening to the consumer are the keys to building loyalty. Teresa Pérez talked about the campaign #TuMundoConAceitedeOliva that Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva has launched during 2019 and 2020 in Spain to rejuvenate olive oil and its consumer. 

Juan Vilar commented, in reference to the value chain, on the limitations that the current regulations of the Ministry are imposing on traditional olive groves and bottlers and the fact that with such legislation no commercial transactions could be carried out and it allows the entry of oil from outside the country, while limiting the field of activity of extensive olive groves. Other issues such as Brexit, the CAP, the new regulations based on quality standards and some other aspects linked to the sector and which are highly topical were also dealt with. 

The second day started with the round table "The canning industry, distribution, communities, consumer behaviour and olive oil". Roberto Carlos Alonso, General Vice-president of the National Association of Manufacturers of Canned Fish and Seafood (ANFACO - CECOPESCA); Pedro J. Domínguez, Commercial Director of Nielsen; Carlos Jiménez, Operations Director of the Acesur Group; Felipe Medina, General Secretary of the Spanish Association of Distributors, Self-Service and Supermarkets (ASEDAS); Primitivo Fernández, Member of Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva and Juan Vilar, as moderator.

During this round table the direct relationship between preserves and olive oil was analysed and how this, in the words of Roberto Carlos Alonso, "has a great weight and relevance in the canning sector". If in the canning sector it is clear that olive oil is a food that gives value to the product, for Carlos Jiménez, right now we have a "historic opportunity to put olive oil in the place it deserves both at the product and ingredient level". In this sense, Pedro J. Domínguez, points out: "Until now the consumer accepted what the industry proposed, he consumed more commercial products, but the COVID-19 has changed everything: retail and online consumption has increased and Horeca has come to a standstill. We have cooked more at home and that pleasure of doing it with olive oil, continues".   

However, for all those attending the round table, there is no doubt that in the short term this trend is likely to change "the user's resentment towards olive oil will be noticed when the economic problems arrive", assures Pedro J. Domínguez. Therefore, in Carlos Jiménez' opinion, it is time to "transfer to the consumer all that olive oil entails in terms of health, tradition, economy, culture... and to be able to value it as it deserves". Primitivo Fernández, on behalf of Interprofesional, praised a campaign to encourage and bring consumption closer to younger people and reinforce its value as a food.

Felipe Medina, a supermarket representative, said that if months before the confinement "we had to explain why the price of a product goes up so much from the time it leaves the field until it reaches the supermarket, with COVID-19 it has become clear that there are many people working to keep that product in your home. The concept of proximity has acquired much more value in this crisis". All those present at the table denounced the measure announced by the government to bottle olive oil in glass bottles, as it would make the product more expensive.

Juan Aceituno, chef of the restaurant Dama Juana (one Michelin star) in Jaén was responsible for closing the WOOE Conference with a showcooking of his Gazpacho Diferente con lima y picual (Gazpacho Campesino), in which the oils of Jaén Selección 2020 were the protagonists. "Despite being a gazpacho to bite and that surprises you when you bite it, it is made with very humble ingredients and where the main thread is the olive oil. I have chosen Bravoleum, one of the 8 oils of Jaén Selección 2020, but any of them can be worth it because they are the 'cream of the crop'", the chef commented during his intervention.

Organized by Pomona Keepers, founder company of the World Olive Oil Exhibition (WOOE), and IFEMA, the Virtual Conference is sponsored by the Andalusian Government, the Provincial Council of Jaén and the Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva. With this virtual event, both the WOOE and IFEMA continue their efforts to support the Spanish agri-food sector and promote olive oil, a product in which Spain is the largest producer worldwide and one of the most important in economic terms.