The WOOE is warming up
The World Olive Oil Exhibition returns with the magic of olive oil to IFEMA's Hall 6 MADRID. After two years without being held due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, 2022 will once again host the largest monographic fair dedicated exclusively to olive oil. For two days, IFEMA's Hall 6 will become the meeting point for producing countries, consumers and all the companies that revolve around EVOO, with one objective: to consolidate the olive oil business and open up new markets.
This ninth edition will be based on three basic pillars: business, sustainability and knowledge. Precisely, during the pandemic it has been proven that olive oil is a dynamic sector that has been able to compensate, in part, for its loss of market share in the on-trade with its presence in households, due to the fact that EVOO is one of the healthiest foods and the mainstay of the Mediterranean diet. During these months, the good consumption figures in producer countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece have been combined with the interest aroused by the olive oil sector in countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Scandinavia, as well as in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Japan.
Once again this year, the fair will become the world showcase for the olive oil sector. To achieve this, Otilia Romero de Condés, CEO of the WOOE, and José Luis Murcia, executive director, met with Abdelatif Ghedir, executive director of the IOC, to join forces and promote the use and consumption of olive oil with actions to be carried out during the fair.
In addition to being a unique opportunity to see the world's olive oil harvest at first hand, the WOOE has an extensive programme of activities. These include the Delicatessen With Olive Oil competition, which rewards innovation in various products made with olive oil and which this year will also award the prizes for the 2020 edition; the Olive Oil Bar tasting area; Desafío WOOE, the gastronomic competition and the Gourmet Area by Kike Piñeiro. In addition, the conference room will host several debates on 'The Awakening of olive oil after the pandemic'.
The ninth edition of the WOOE is being held in parallel with HIP, the fair dedicated to the restaurant, hotel and catering industry, sectors that are beginning to wake up after the pandemic's hiatus and which will also have their space at IFEMA. The fair is promoted by the private company Pomona Keepers and IFEMA Madrid.
According to experts such as Juan Vilar and the International Olive Council's predictions for this year, world production has closed at around 3 million tonnes. Spain is the leading country with 1.39 million tonnes, ahead of Greece with 275,000, Italy with 270,000 and Portugal with 100,000. Outside the EU, Turkey harvested 160,000 tonnes; Morocco 130,000 and Tunisia 110,000. Meanwhile, in the New World, Argentina had a harvest of 28,000 tonnes, Chile 23,500 and Australia 23,000.
"Although the pandemic has forced us to delay our meeting with the olive oil sector, all these figures confirm that consumers have remained loyal to olive oil during this time. For this reason, we are convinced that this edition of the WOOE is going to be a historic one, and it is no coincidence that producer countries and consumers attending the fair have already expressed their enthusiasm to be able to participate in it and help the sector to continue to grow", comments Otilia Romero de Condés, CEO of the World Olive Oil Exhibition.
