The FIOI, Italian Federation of Independent Olive Growers which has exceeded 150 members, also opening regional delegations in 2024: Puglia, Sicilia, Campania e Toscana, in order, to also give vitality to actions in the territories and increasingly involve all the protagonists of this movement.
The meeting recently held in Sicily served to reiterate the common will of promote and protect the figure, work, interests and technical-economic needs of the independent Italian olive grower, understood as the entity that implements complete monitoring of the production cycle, from the cultivation and selection of the olives to the bottling and marketing of the final product. And especially raise awareness throughout the supply chain - including consumers - about quality olive oil, because raising production from a qualitative point of view represents the key to giving a certain and conscious future to a sector which, between climate change, abandonment of olive groves, Xylella and decline in consumption is certainly experiencing a period of strong criticality.
“We are not an association – he clarifies the national president Pietro Intini - but a movement. Men and women, olive growers and oil millers, who want to be architects of their own destiny, aiming for quality production with pride, but without presumption. We define ourselves as independent not compared to others, but because we independently guarantee the entire production cycle, opening and closing the supply chain. And being part of the FIOI means talking together and discussing how we understand extra virgin olive oil, fueling training and information and trying to make a contribution, in our small way, to the debate on the future of the olive oil sector which should see everyone united, without parochialisms”.
In this sense, the “FIOI Points of Affection”: restaurants, pizzerias, olive oil shops, wine shops, delicatessens, but also e-commerce and specialized foreign importers who share the principles and production values of the Independent Olive Growers: origin of the product, craftsmanship and biodiversity. Underlining how quality extra virgin olive oil is following the same path as wine, emerging in recent years as a great protagonist of the agri-food sector. A gastronomic heritage made of aromas, taste and pleasure (it is no coincidence that the collaboration with FIVI, the Italian Federation of Independent Winemakerspractically "countryside cousins").
“The Points of Affection – recalls Intini – they are managed by gastronomic operators who participate in a supply chain that enhances the work of the olive grower and his oil, making its production and marketing profitable. The consequences are in economic, health terms, protection of biodiversity, care of the land and recovery of abandoned olive groves".
In these rooms it will be possible to learn about the aromas and characteristics of the oils produced by our varieties of Italian olives. Curious and passionate people will be guided in tasting and purchasing with passion and competence. The Points of Affection display the FIOI brand, with the olive leaf that recalls the individual in his role as an olive grower. And they boast a minimum of references: such as having a number of three companies - with at least one label per company - of Independent Olive Growers with the FIOI brand.
