MOUNTOLIVE I Operational Group: Differentiation and Valuation of Mountain Olive Oil
- Type Operational group
- Status In progress
- Execution 2024 -2025
- Assigned Budget 259.477,28 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Andalucía
- Project website GO MOUNTOLIVE I
Differentiating mountain olive oil will increase the profitability of farms, allowing them to maintain their cultivation in areas with difficult access or adverse climatic conditions.
The main expected benefits include increased competitiveness of the oil from these areas, which will increase farmers' incomes and help preserve mountain olive groves, which are essential for protecting the natural environment, preventing fires, and reducing erosion. The main added value for agricultural producers is the opportunity to market a differentiated virgin olive oil with unique and healthy characteristics that appeal to consumers. This will not only improve the product's competitiveness but also increase prices and farmers' incomes.
By applying this knowledge, industry professionals will be able to improve the quality of the oil they produce, adapting their production processes to maximize its nutritional and sensory potential. This opportunity presents a clear path to making mountain olive grove cultivation more profitable, despite its high production costs, and to ensuring the long-term sustainability of these farms. Furthermore, the new environmental measures linked to the CAP will help mitigate the effects of climate change, promoting the continued cultivation of olive groves in these areas.
To differentiate and enhance mountain olive oil from a qualitative and health perspective, identifying different compounds of interest and their potential role in promoting human health.
The project focuses on studying mountain olive groves in Andalusia. It includes the creation of a database of scientific articles, identification of areas and cooperatives of interest, and compilation of previous studies on mountain olive groves.
Surveys, sampling, oil characterization and analysis, and market research are also conducted. Tools such as an analytical data system and a dissemination platform are developed, in addition to coordinating technical operations and documenting project monitoring.
The project aims to competitively improve the profile of the entire value chain, with a clear focus on a differentiated product for the market, through the intrinsic attributes of chemical composition, health benefits, and sensory profile, taking into account the situation and needs of the producers who constitute the first part of the olive oil value chain, as well as the needs and preferences of the end consumer of mountain olive oil.
- Coordinator/entity name: Antonio Guzmán Vico
- Postal address: Paseo de la Estación, 30, 4ª, 23003, Jaén
- Coordinator/entity email: aguzman@agroalimentarias-andalucia.coop
- Telephone: 669092080
This operational group emerged from a series of transfer workshops organized by the Agro-Food Cooperatives of Jaén, where the preliminary results of a research project developed by IFAPA on the evaluation of the elaiotechnical potential of Sierra oils were presented.
This task force addresses the need of olive growers and cooperatives in mountain areas to differentiate their virgin olive oil, taking as a starting point the research work of IFAPA regarding physical and chemical characteristics, the contribution of the University of Jaén regarding differentiation based on its health-promoting properties, and the characterization of the potential of these oils and their degree of consumer acceptance, to be carried out by the Olive Grove Foundation.
In short, it is a coordinated response by research and transfer organizations to the needs of the olive and olive oil sector in mountain areas.
- Antonio Guzmán Vico
- Gabriel Beltran Maza (gabriel.beltran@juntadeandalucia.es)
- Cesar Díaz Barroso (cdiaz@agroalimentarias-andalucia.coop)
- Jose Juan Gaforio Martinez (jgaforio@ujaen.es)
- Pedro Javier Ortega Guirado (director@scasanisidro.com)
- José María López Padilla (josemaria.lopez@fundaciondelolivar.com)
- Iván Caballero Águila (icaballero@agroalimentarias-andalucia.coop)
- Antonio Guzmán Vico
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