Le Italian table olives are good and safe, thanks to producers' constant attention to quality and consumer protection. This was the central theme of the conference. “Table Olives: Nutrition, Health, and Tradition”, that Assom, the Table Olives AssociationOrganizes Friday 14 November at 10.00pm, at Orsini Castle of Castel Madama (Rome).
Assom was born in 2016 and is the first Italian association to represent table olive producersSince 2023, it has been an associate member of Assitol, the Italian olive oil industry association, a member of Federalimentare and Confindustria.
The event will focus on the commitment of the producers in the sector to guarantee the health of consumers, thanks to the use of safe processing methods and support for scientific researchTable olives, in fact, represent an Italian excellence not only from an economic point of view, but also in terms of quality and food safety. “Our products are exported to 140 countries - remember Angelo Moscherini, president of Assom -. Much of this success is due to the Italian production system, considered among the safest and most controlled in the world."
The meeting, moderated by the journalist and writer Maurice Pescari, will be introduced by Michael Nonni, mayor of Castel Madama.
To explain the importance of scientific research and the collaboration of producers with the academic world in the safety of table olives, there will be speakers Angelo Moscherini, president of Assom, Maurice Servili, professor of Food Science and Technology at the University of Perugia, Nicola Francesca, professor of Food Microbiology at the University of Palermo, Eugenio Parente, professor of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Microbiology, Igor Calderari, head of the technical area of Assitol, and Augustine Macrì, Head of Food Safety at the Consumers' Union.
Assum
Founded in 2016, Assom is the first Italian association of table olive producers; it brings together 16 companies involved in primary processing and the processing of the finished product intended for final consumption. Assom represents Abruzzo, Campania, Lazio, Puglia, and Sicily, the Italian regions with the largest olive production. Member companies generate revenues of €307 million. The companies employ 530 people, and 2100 Italian producers are involved. Assom's member companies process over 60.546 tons of olives annually, 58% of which are Italian olives, with the remaining 25.287 tons coming primarily from EU and non-EU countries.
Table olives
COI and MASAF data indicate continued growth in the global table olive sector. Over the past thirty years, global production has grown steadily, from 950.000 tons in 1990/91 to 3.019.000 tons in 2022/23, an increase of 218%. At the same time, global consumption has grown by 194% over the past thirty years. The highest consumption rates have been recorded in the producing countries themselves—Greece, Morocco, and Turkey—as well as in the USA, Brazil, and Canada.
