Imprese olivicole e certificazione biologica

Olive Oil Farms and Organic Certification (by Fabio Maria Santucci) - Organic produce has to be certified in order to be marketed as such. Certifying both the process and product is an obligation and an opportunity to gain premium price. 48 producers in six regions (Sicilia, Calabria, Puglia, Lazio, Toscana ed Umbria), who are licensed to bottle their organic olive oil, have been interviewed about their relationship with the Certification Bodies. These producers are young and educated, with average sized farms (total area of 37 ha, of which 16 ha olive groves), are market oriented, and also sell abroad, through several marketing channels. The CB is chosen firstly due to its experience and reliability, and secondly for its foreign accreditation. The main advantage found with certification was, especially in the South, the improvement of the firm?s image, while the costs of certification were the most negative aspects. All producers recognised the skills of the CB inspectors, who are considered trustworthy, but the whole system is seen as too rigid and a lack of communication is felt by many.