The OOWC is presented in Portugal

The Olive Oil World Congress (OOWC) will land in Portugal to present this collaborative project to the country's olive sector and involve it in spreading the word about the organisation of the congress. The action is part of the period "On The Road To OOWC 2024" to continue the internationalisation of the congress.

Olive oil is one of the jewels of our food, the liquid gold of countries like Portugal, with a great olive-growing tradition for centuries. According to estimates by the International Olive Oil Council (IOC), the European Commission and the sector itself, olive oil production for the 2022/2023 season is estimated at 125,000 tonnes, 39.4% down on the previous season, while consumption is 61,000 tonnes. Portugal's exports are down by 4.4% compared to the 2021/2022 marketing year, currently standing at around 70,000 tonnes.

In this context, the OOWC is organising a conference entitled "The olive oil sector, technological solutions for its future", which will take place on 30 June at the Beja Parque Hotel in Portugal, aimed at both the production side and mills in the sector. Those interested in attending this event can register by sending an email to info@oliveoilwc.com.

José Godinho Calado, regional director of Agriculture of Alentejo; Mariana Matos, general secretary of Casa do Azeite; and Pedro Lopes, president of the OLIVUM board, will be in charge of opening the presentation.

Afterwards, Ricardo Migueláñez, general coordinator of the congress, will present "this collaborative project for the entire olive oil sector worldwide, bringing together all the links in the olive oil chain in all the producing countries. In this way, the associations, companies and institutions that wish to join this initiative can contribute their knowledge and experience so that the messages and actions, agreed between all of them in the OOWC's decision-making bodies, are amplified and reach all the olive oil producers and consumers in the world", Migueláñez assures.

The day will continue with the round table "Technological solutions for olive groves and olive oil", which will be attended by experts from the olive industry such as Juan Carlos Cañasveras, Business Development Director BALAM Agriculture; Jorge Blanco, Head of R+D+i Greenfield Technologies; and Francisco Mondragão, from the Escuela Superior Agrária de Elvas of the Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre.

Among the communication tools that the congress organisers have developed is the mobile application 'Olive Oil World Congress', available for Android and IOS in both Spanish and English. To download the APP you need to access Google Play in the Android version or via the following link: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sentidocomun.apps.oliveoilworldcongress, and in the case of the IOS version via the APP Store by entering the following link: apps.apple.com/us/app/olive-oil-world-congress/id1672583400. But that's not all, because through the APP users who download it will stay in touch with professionals in the sector thanks to the OOWC's "Olive Oil Network", a platform where anyone who registers can contact other registered operators, share projects, develop business and exchange information on production, processing and markets.

Under the slogan "Taste it, enjoy, It's olive oil", the congress has AgroBank, the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha through the brand Campo y Alma and the Junta de Andalucía through its brand 'Gusto del Sur' as Platinum sponsors, Grupo Interóleo, Balam Agriculture and Agrocolor, as Gold sponsors; and the company Kubota as Silver sponsor.