First 'Olive Oil Community' Established in Menfi, Sicily

Summary

Italy’s first olive oil com­mu­nity has been estab­lished in Menfi, Sicily, aim­ing to pro­mote extra vir­gin olive oil as a dri­ver of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and regional iden­tity. The ini­tia­tive has already cer­ti­fied 12 com­pa­nies that meet sus­tain­abil­ity require­ments, with plans for more com­mu­ni­ties to be estab­lished in other towns in Italy.

Italy’s first ​“olive oil com­mu­nity” has been estab­lished in the Sicilian town of Menfi, in the province of Agrigento. 

Promoted by the Città dell’Olio asso­ci­a­tion under the aus­pices of the munic­i­pal insti­tu­tions, the Olive Oil Communities ini­tia­tive aims to pro­mote extra vir­gin olive oil as a dri­ver of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and key ele­ment of the regional iden­tity, through a net­work of local insti­tu­tions, eco­nomic oper­a­tors and cul­tural enti­ties linked to extra vir­gin olive oil.

“We con­ceived of the olive oil com­mu­ni­ties to cre­ate solid rela­tion­ships between those who man­age, pro­duce, com­mu­ni­cate and pro­mote the extra vir­gin olive oil in their ter­ri­tory,” Michele Sonnessa, pres­i­dent of Città dell’Olio, told Olive Oil Times. 

“We are work­ing to ensure that in the com­ing months each olive oil city can have its own com­mu­nity, where extra vir­gin olive oil is a qual­ity-of-life indi­ca­tor and a dri­ver of eco­nomic and cul­tural devel­op­ment,” he added.

So far, 12 com­pa­nies have signed the ​‘char­ter of com­mit­ments for sus­tain­abil­ity and well­be­ing’ drawn up by the orga­niz­ers and obtained the olive oil com­mu­nity cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, as they meet the require­ments set out in the reg­u­la­tion and tech­ni­cal spec­i­fi­ca­tion.

“We are glad to be part of the first olive oil com­mu­nity,” said Accursio Alagna, chief finance offi­cer and exec­u­tive board mem­ber at La Goccia d’Oro, the largest olive grow­ers’ coop­er­a­tive in the area. 

“Our com­pany is among those that, a year ago, gave impe­tus to cre­ate a tech­ni­cal com­mit­tee involv­ing all the local olive mills, to iden­tify a com­mon direc­tion and a strat­egy for the growth and devel­op­ment of olive grow­ing in the area. We are proud to have con­tributed to this achieve­ment,” he added.

Città dell’Olio said the olive oil com­mu­ni­ties aim to boost sus­tain­able pro­duc­tion and oleo­tourism, sup­port local busi­nesses tied to olive oil cul­ture, pro­mote regional prod­ucts and tra­di­tions, and high­light local Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication-cer­ti­fied extra vir­gin olive oils as expres­sions of local iden­tity.

“This impor­tant mile­stone has been made pos­si­ble thanks to the work we started months ago with a mem­o­ran­dum of under­stand­ing, Olio su Terra, aimed at pro­mot­ing olive oil through cul­ture, edu­ca­tion, health and tourism through the involve­ment of schools, pro­duc­ers and local asso­ci­a­tions,” said Francesco Gagliano, Menfi coun­cilor for agri­cul­ture. 

“It was a par­tic­i­pa­tory project that con­cretely paved the way for our mem­ber­ship in the Città dell’Olio national asso­ci­a­tion and then for the birth of the first olive oil com­mu­nity in Italy,” he added.

Città dell’Olio announced that two other mem­ber towns are set to estab­lish an olive oil com­mu­nity in the com­ing months: Bitonto in the province of Bari, in Puglia, and Usini, in the province of Sassari in Sardinia.

• Città dell’Olio