Let's talk about (our) olive oil
There is no such thing as good and cheap. It's a seemingly simple rule. (so from 'Things that grandchildren should know'), but which, however, hides one of the dramas that cuts across part of our agri-food industry: we want to sell a lot, but we want to sell quality; and we want to sell cheap, but then we complain that how is it possible that so many farmers are broke if at the same time we show off our exports with our chin so high.
What the hell is going on with our sacred olive oil? Well, it happens that there is no good and cheap; and that if you bet on quantity and overexploitation (a short-term strategy, typical of someone who only looks to reconcile results at the end of the fiscal year) then it will be difficult, very difficult, to turn towards a model around excellence: or in mass or pealing.
Spain boasts of being the largest producer of olive oil in the world
Spain boasts of being the largest producer of olive oil in the world (close to 50%) and also of having the largest olive-growing area on the planet (25%). How we like big numbers. And it is that according to data from the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA), Throughout the 2018/2019 olive oil campaign, a production record of 1,786,900 tons has been reached, a little because of the drop in production in countries like Italy and Greece, which positions us as the only possibility of supplying them.
Why then has the purchase price of oil at origin fallen by 43% since 2017? and farmers take to the streets because they can't anymore? in the fabulous Report by Cristian López for El País Some keys are broken down: the price that Andalusian olive growers charged at the end of June was 2.20 euros per kilo of extra olive oil and of course, the field is bleeding; our identity and our most valuable heritage are bleeding: people.
"The production costs began to be much higher than the income from the sale of the oil. He lived poorly on advances and loans. I was going bankrupt and I had to leave the field." The person who spoke to El País is an olive grower from Jaén, but he is the constant run run of a model with a very high forehead and a very short skirt.
The wonder of dipping bread in oil
The headlines of this 'sindio' (because they will tell me: dominate the market and drown the most valuable piece: the farmer) seem obvious: excess production, falling prices and, consequently, lack of appreciation in all markets. In just three years, 128,000 hectares of new plantations have been created to produce more and more at the expense, of course, of quality, typicity and terroir.
“The olive trees / are full of cries” Federico Garcia Lorca
You have to work around the olive tree and the olive grove, glued to the hands of the farmer and the awareness of the immense luxury that is a toast with extra virgin olive oil; why yes so much we boast of the Mediterranean diet and this way of understanding the world that Manuel Vicent so well calligraphed —“the perfume of coffee with the toast at breakfast and stretching the leg towards the cool side of the sheet on spring mornings”, how can we not erect a castle around this jewel? What wouldn't they do in Japan with such a treasure?
The first steps seem clear: self-regulation (Spain has presented a proposal from the Agrifood Cooperatives, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, to implement a system of voluntary self-regulation) , common sense and tell the world the whys. We have plenty.
We must talk about olive oil cultivation, territory and so many small and large crops; of denominations of origin, atavistic traditions and people with names and surnames (because they have names and surnames) ; of this ancestral wisdom (the origin of the olive tree is lost in the mists of time); gastronomy attached to the earth and tell the world that this tangible is overflowing with intangibles. **Tell stories that touch the heart (and palate) ** and put together a coherent and valuable speech.
Fill each bottle with quality, personality and authenticity, because only then can we sell them. And sell them.
There is no good and cheap