Fly thePGI Sicily which this year aims to touch the 2 thousand tons. A surprising progression for a production that today sees protagonists 1.987 olive growers, 185 millers, 183 packers and 73 intermediaries. It is a large and varied audience, attracted by the excellent response that both the domestic and foreign markets are giving, also involving large-scale retail companies that bottle under their own brands.
Michele Riccobono, Head of the Certification Service of the Regional Institute of Wine and Oil (in the picture), rattles off with satisfaction the new numbers that confirm the important growth trend.
“The Sicily PGI – he points out – started in the first year, the campaign 2016/17, with a production of 330 tons. Over time, the increase in certified products has been constant, exceeding a thousand tons in the 2019/20 season, 1.500 in the last campaign and leaving predict now a share of 2 thousand tons. We are indeed already at 1.445 tons, with another six months to apply for certification and therefore with very wide margins for growth”.
To date, the certified land is equal to 13.772 hectares, about 10% of the entire regional olive-growing area. The disciplinary of the PGI Sicilia was created to make the most of the rich biodiversity of the island: they are allowed 28 different local varieties, although 80% is limited to the three Nocellara, Biancolilla, Cerasuola, Giarraffa, Tonda Iblea and Moresca.
With a'acidity less than 0,5%, 12 peroxides as the maximum limit and a presence of polyphenols greater than 100, the PGI Sicily must also be characterized by aromatic notes of grass, artichoke and tomato. On the market, there is an extra 0.50 cents per kilo for bulk, decidedly much higher figures in the bottled.
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