Success of the Meeting between Producers from Jaén and the Portuguese Alentejo

The meeting served to share synergies and delve into aspects of modern olive growing and its future

About 80 people attended this event, including members of the Olive Grove Interpretation Center interested in learning about the development of olive groves in the Alentejo region of Portugal, as well as producers and technicians from the Portuguese region. This meeting was organized by the Olive and Oil Association of the province of Jaén – Olive and Oil Interpretation Center located in Úbeda, Agromillora, and Pieralisi Spain and Portugal, and it has received the collaboration of the Úbeda City Council, the marketing and communication company Farmaove, the Portuguese production company Casa Relvas and Olivum, and the Association of Olive Growers and Mills of Portugal.

Among the group of Spanish companies and producers who traveled to Évora were farmers, agronomists, managers of olive oil cooperatives, and mill managers, all of them members of Olivar y Aceite, representing: Picualia from Bailén, Noviembre Aove from Arquillos, Aceites Guadalquivir SCA (Aove Buensalud) from Villanueva de la Reina, Gloriae from Úbeda, Cosmética de Olivo from Sabiote, Cortijo la Zarza from Arroyo del Ojanco, Cortijo La Torre from Escañuela, Oleícola Jaén from Baeza, IADA Ingenieros from Baeza, and Olivar de Plata from Sabiote.

From the organization of the Meeting, Javier Gámez, President of the Olive and Oil Association and Councilor of Agriculture of the Úbeda City Council, and Soledad Román, manager of the Olive Center, attended. Representing Pieralisi were Rodrigo Jaen, General Director of Pieralisi Spain and Portugal, Antonio Carazo, Product Manager, and Adán Carrascosa, Commercial Director of the company. Representing Agromillora were Cristóbal Sánchez, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Antonio Machado, Commercial Delegates of Andalusia, Extremadura, and Portugal, respectively.

This meeting enabled the exchange of knowledge and experience among producers from the Portuguese olive oil sector, the olive plant production and marketing company Agromillora, and the delegation from Jaén that traveled to Portugal

The Meeting, which began on March 6th, had its first stop at the nursery center that Agromillora Iberia has in the province of Badajoz, in the town of Hernán Cortés. During a technical visit to the facilities, attendees could see firsthand the production of olive plants, of which Agromillora produces and markets 20 million per year, for all olive-growing regions worldwide. Committed to quality and innovation, Agromillora, through its production processes, ensures the highest genetic and sanitary quality standards. This company, born in Catalonia in the 1980s, has emerged as a world leader in the development of new agronomic solutions such as the hedge model applied to new species, which has been a paradigm shift for the sector.

In the afternoon, the group from Jaén moved to the field, in the municipality of Miajadas (Cáceres), to visit an olive grove plantation where new, more productive, resistant, and adapted olive varieties are cultivated. Once in the field, the visit focused on the management of dryland olive groves and the different olive varieties being cultivated.

On March 7th, the day began at the facilities of Casa Relvas, a company that produces mainly extra virgin olive oils from the coriana, lecciana, Sikitita, and Arbosana varieties, as well as excellent quality wines.

The company, located in the heart of the Portuguese Alentejo, is a reference in the Portuguese olive oil sector and has a new mill with the latest Pieralisi technology for olive oil production.

At Casa Relvas, several presentations took place throughout the morning.

Early in the morning, the hosts from Casa Relvas welcomed the attendees, and then Javier Gámez, President of the Olive Center and Councilor of Agriculture of the Úbeda City Council, explained to the attendees the work carried out by the Olive Center in the province of Jaén, focusing on “training, dissemination, and promotion of extra virgin olive oil through a very comprehensive program of activities throughout the year, across the province of Jaén, in collaboration with other entities such as the Master and Operator Course for Olive Mills, which is in its third edition,” highlighted Javier Gámez in his speech.

The General Director of Pieralisi for Spain and Portugal, Rodrigo Jaen, who traveled with the delegation from Jaén, emphasized in his speech Pieralisi’s involvement in the olive oil sector and how they work closely with the most cutting-edge and innovative mills such as Casa Relvas in Portugal or Picualia in Spain (Bailén, Jaén), in the development of machinery for olive oil extraction, aiming for higher machine performance and savings, and sustainability for olive oil companies and cooperatives. In that sense, he highlighted that Pieralisi is a leader in the sector, with over 65 years of experience in which innovation and excellence are the hallmark of the brand.

Antonio Machado from Agromillora provided us with figures regarding the profitability and results obtained from various studies on the exploitation of different varieties of hedge olive groves, which are being achieved through genetic improvement. On the other hand, Cristóbal Sánchez answered questions from those interested regarding the performance of the new varieties in the field and how they adapt to different agronomic conditions.

Gonzalo Moreira, manager of OLIVUM, the Portuguese producers’ association, explained in his speech the association’s work in Portugal, acknowledging their efforts in favor of modern agriculture, namely the transformation of olive growing and their commitment to quality.

The series of presentations concluded with Antonio Carazo from Pieralisi, who discussed experiences with extractability in varieties adapted to hedge olive groves, emphasizing Pieralisi’s innovation for increased efficiency and higher yield in olive oil extraction.

After the presentations, attendees had the opportunity to visit Casa Relvas’s mill, guided by Henrique Herculano, the production manager, who explained how they carry out the olive oil campaign, considering the large volumes of milling and oil extraction facilitated by hedge olive groves.

Finally, a field visit was conducted to see more plantations of new varieties, although the rain caused it to be a brief visit.

At the end of the morning presentations and after a networking lunch, a guided tasting of the new varieties cultivated in the Alentejo in hedge olive groves, such as Coriana and Lecciana, was held, highlighting the quality and organoleptic profile of the extra virgin oils. With this oil tasting, the technical session and the Meeting of producers from Spain and Portugal organized by the Olive and Oil Association of the province of Jaén, Agromillora, and Pieralisi Spain and Portugal, with the collaboration of the Úbeda City Council, the marketing and communication company Farmaove, the Portuguese company Casa Relvas and Olivum, and the Association of Olive Growers and Mills of Portugal, came to an end.

The Olive and Oil Association assesses this Meeting as “more than positive, as it has met all expectations and has achieved the objectives set for it, which were to deepen the knowledge of modern olive growing, new varieties, and future possibilities for our land,” said the manager of the center.