As part of the Expoliva Trade Fair, taking place from 11th to 14th May, the 3rd edition of the International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Trade Fair was organised with a selection of supreme quality oils.

Among them were the brands Cordoliva Selección from the PDO Montoro-Adamuz and Hojiblanca Selección from the PDO Antequera, both belonging to the Hojiblanca Group.150 brands from different countries and designations of origin participated in the international exhibition, in addition to the finalist oils from the Quality Awards.

In addition, on Wednesday 11th May 2011 visitors also had the opportunity to experience the work of an expert taster through the joint tasting session run by the PDO Montoro-Adamuz and the PDO Antequera, where the quality of the extra virgin olive oil was discussed along with the specific characteristics and organoleptic qualities of each of the oils from the Designations of Origin.

Mr. Antonio Terán Pérez

Technical Director of the Governing Board

Bujalance, 22 April 2011

Subject: Decision of the Organising Committee of the 5th Andalusian Technical Workshops on Sustainability in the Environment on the award for “Promoting the Sustainability of the Environment”

For 5 consecutive years the “Technical Workshops on Sustainability in the Environment” have been held in the Cordoban town of Bujalance. Coinciding with these, we have been making a humble public recognition of those Andalusian people and/or groups who have excelled at“Promoting the Sustainability of the Environment”.

The Organising Committee, gathered on its 5th call, agreed to award that recognition to:

1. Technical Association for the Integrated Production of the Olive Tree (ATPIOlivar)
2. Council of Posadas
3. Mr David Avilés Pascual
4. Designation of Origin of Montoro-Adamuz Oil
5. Leisure Gardens of Bujalance
6. Olive Oil Producer Los Pedroches, S.C.A (OLIPE)

We hope to see you and anyone you wish to invite at the 5th Andalusian Technical Workshops on the Sustainability of the Environment, which will be held next Friday, 25th March, in the Spanish Theatre in Bujalance (Cordoba), and which this year will address the topic “The Future of the Olive Grove”. At the end, we will have the awards ceremony for “Promoting Sustainability of the Environment”

Thank you all and please keep up the good work in favour of the sustainability of the rural environment, with warm and friendly regards.
Rafael Félix Torres

Chairman of the Organising Committee

Brussels approves the inclusion of olive oil from the protected designation of origin Montoro-Adamuz among Europe’s high quality foods.

It covers 55,000 hectares of olive groves situated in the Cordoban Sierra Morena. This hundred-year-old olive grove is famous for its quality and the great stability of its oils. Thanks to their high polyphenol content they have enjoyed historical prestige since time immemorial.

Adamuz, 20 December 2010. Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2010 of the Commission dated 17 December 2010 has been published, which enters the designation into the register of Protected Designations of Origin and of Protected Geographical Indications (Montoro-Adamuz PDO).

After a long journey taking more than 14 years, the desired objective has been achieved, namely the recognition of the magnificent qualities of Montoro-Adamuz oil. This is thanks to the work carried out by the Cordoban Sierra Cordoba Rural Development Group together with the oil mills, cooperatives and the Hojiblanca Group, who have managed to unite the main food product grown in our mountain area under the same quality name (PDO Montoro-Adamuz).
To the north of the Guadalquivir River stand olive groves full of history that surround the Cordoban Sierra Morena. Oils that date back to Roman times and that were taken to Rome along the once navigable Guadalquivir are now recognised with the Protected Designation of Origin.

PRESS RELEASE

In Roman Times the oil from this region was sent to Rome as part of what were then known as “oils from Baetica”, Baetica being one of the Roman regions. It was transported by water, along the Guadalquivir River. The oil mills of the Sierra de Adamuz y Montoro Mountain Range, which used beam presses and had their heyday in the nineteenth century, are one of the greatest industrial archaeology assets in the province of Cordoba.
The municipalities covered by the Designation of Origin are those of Adamuz, Montoro, Espiel, Hornachuelos, Obejo, Villaharta, Villanueva del Rey and Villaviciosa de Córdoba.
The Olivar de Sierra mountain olive grove is in a practically unique location, where the olive groves are integrated into their natural environment. This rugged terrain hinders agricultural mechanisation and this is why they still use traditional cultivation techniques, trying to avoid erosion through non-tilling techniques and maintaining spontaneous plant cover in the areas not occupied by olive trees.
In short, the extra virgin olive oils from the Montoro-Adamuz region, based on the main Picual and native Nevadillo Negro varieties, are the result of the interaction between the beautifully preserved geographical environment and the human factor, with cultivation techniques that are traditional and environmentally friendly.
The main varieties of the Designation of Origin Montoro-Adamuz are Picual (Nevadillo Blanco) and Nevadillo Negro, which produce very specific oils with a high content of polyphenols and natural antioxidant agents, very beneficial for the health.
The high content of polyphenols and natural antioxidant agents gives them some unique and extraordinary qualities, very beneficial for the health in the event of inflammation, thrombosis and other diseases such as arteriosclerosis and arterial hypertension, or in other words, they contribute to preventing cardiovascular risk.

• Training workshop from the DO Montoro-Adamuz
• Qualities of EVOO from DO Montoro-Adamuz
• Miller’s Breakfast with EVOO
• Final visit to the Cooperative Ntra. Madre del Sol

La consejera de Agricultura y Pesca de la Junta de Andalucía, Clara Aguilera, ha asegurado hoy que el Gobierno regional trabajará para impedir, “en la medida de lo posible”, la atomización del sector oleícola, porque esa tendencia no contribuye a defender la renta de los agricultores.

Así lo ha asegurado Aguilera durante su intervención en la entrega de los XIV Premios Hojiblanca a la Calidad, que ha tenido lugar esta tarde en la sede social de la compañía en Antequera (Málaga) y en la que también han participado el presidente de Hojiblanca, José Moreno, y su director general, Antonio Luque.

La consejera de Agricultura y Pesca ha defendido que el futuro del sector está “en manos” de los propios profesionales y de la Administración, aunque ésta no intervendrá en todos los casos.

“El presidente de la Junta dice una cosa muy clara: vamos a ayudar al que se ayuda; el que no se ayude y quiera seguir con su pequeña almazara, en un pueblo con otras seis u ocho más, ahí no se va a ayudar, porque eso es una ruina”, ha resaltado.

Para Aguilera, es necesario que este proceso de concentración se complete “en muy poco tiempo”, de forma que Andalucía pueda llegar a ser líder del sector a nivel internacional.

“Y quien no esté de acuerdo con esta línea, que no estorbe por lo menos; porque el Gobierno lo que quiere es que el olivar y el aceite tengan un precio digno, y para eso tenemos clara una línea de trabajo”, ha explicado.

Entre las claves necesarias para mejorar la situación estratégica del sector oleícola, Aguilera también ha citado la apuesta por la investigación y el desarrollo, la búsqueda de la calidad y la profesionalización.

En su alocución durante la entrega de los premios, el presidente de Hojiblanca ha considerado “necesario” el apoyo de la Administración para que el olivar siga funcionando en las zonas rurales de Andalucía, especialmente en unos momentos que ha calificado de “difíciles”.

Moreno ha destacado que el grupo oleícola trabaja “con los pies en el suelo”, consciente de que tiene que luchar y analizar todas las oportunidades que puedan surgir en el mercado.

Por su parte, en declaraciones a los medios de comunicación, el director general de Hojiblanca ha remarcado que, a pesar de que ha sido un año difícil, con un nivel de precios bajo y problemas de calidad, también ha sido el ejercicio de mayor producción del grupo, con 183.000 toneladas de aceite.

Luque ha subrayado que las ventas han sido “espectaculares”, especialmente en el exterior, con 800 millones de kilos de aceite vendidos por el conjunto del sector.

La XIV edición de los Premios Hojiblanca a la Calidad ha reconocido a la SCA Agropecuaria Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Antequera -que ha obtenido el correspondiente al mejor depósito- y a la SCA Olivarera Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Humilladero, que ha logrado el de mejor bodega.

Además, la compañía ha entregado el Accésit al Mejor Aceite Ecológico para la cooperativa San Antonio Abad de Obejo, y el premio al Mejor Aceite con Denominación de Origen Montoro-Adamuz comercializado por Hojiblanca, a la SCA Agrícola Nuestra Madre del Sol de Adamuz.

Fuente original del artículo: La opinión de Málaga.

The Minister of Agriculture and Fishing, Clara Aguilera, presided over the ceremony for the Hojiblanca Awards and the award for the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) ‘Antequera’ and took advantage of the occasion to encourage the winners to “continue with their commitment to joining together and providing quality as a strategy for the future”.

The Minister congratulated the producers for their “great work and commitment to quality, an effort that has made Hojiblanca a global leader in extra virgin olive oil”.

As the Regional Government indicated in a memo, the Minister of Agriculture has encouraged producers to “continue working to improve the commercialisation and internationalisation of companies in the olive oil industry, committed to the concentration and differentiation of products through added value such as high quality brands”.

In this edition, the Hojiblanca Awards went to the Andalusian Agricultural Cooperative Society Nuestra Madre del Sol (Montoro, Cordoba), which won the award for Best Oil with Designation of Origin ‘Montoro-Adamuz’; the Cooperative Del Campo San Antonio Abad (Obejo, Cordoba), Best Ecological Oil; the Andalusian Cooperative Society Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Humilladero, Malaga), which won the Hojiblanca Award for Quality in Virgin Olive Oil; and the Andalusian Farming Cooperative Society Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Antequera, Malaga), Best Virgin Olive Oil.

The Andalusian Cooperative Society Oleoalgaidas (Villanueva de Algaidas, Malaga), won the award for Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil granted by the PDO ‘Antequera’.

Original source of the article: 20 minutos.

A study from the Reina Sofía Hospital describes the anti-thrombotic properties of olive oil.

In this study, polyphenol values have been obtained which are more than double those in oils made from a single variety, namely Picual. This is thanks to the native Nevadillo Negro variety and the soil and climate conditions.

Adamuz, 3 February 2010  A characterisation study of the oils from the Designation of Origin Montoro-Adamuz has demonstrated their high content of polyphenols, which makes them products that are rich in natural antioxidant agents, providing very significant health benefits. Polyphenols are recognised as discriminant chemical markers of virgin oils, influenced by the environment and the variety of olive tree, contributing to the characterisation of the geographical production area of the EVOO from the DO Montoro-Adamuz.

The study compares the levels of phenolic compounds in the oils from the D.O. MONTORO-ADAMUZ with polyphenol levels in oils from other oil producing areas, where the picual variety of olive is predominant, and with bibliographical data about other varieties, in order to study the differences in the average phenolic content of the oils from this D.O. and link them to their agrological conditions.

The results obtained demonstrate the influence of the Nevadillo Negro variety on the composition of polyphenols in the oils from the D.O. Montoro-Adamuz, a reason why they are more stable in relation to oxidation compared to the single variety Picual olive oils, traditionally considered the most stable together with the oils from the cornicabra variety.They show an increase in the percentage levels of the major phenolic components, mainly HyEA (oleuropein aglycone) and TyEA (ligstroside aglycone), chemical glucose forms of Hydroxitosol and Tyrosol that are mainly responsible for the antioxidant strength of the oils.

Similarly, the soil and climatic conditions of the mountain olive grove in the geographical area of the DO Montoro-Adamuz force a situation of stress in the olive tree, which results in an increased concentration of phenolic content.The acidic and shallow soils, unique in Andalusia, accentuated by the water stress conditions of the olive groves in the district, come together with the early harvesting practices that have an impact on the high content of polyphenols in the oils.

All of this means that the oils from the DO Montoro-Adamuz have the greatest content of polyphenols compared to other oils produced in other areas, fundamentally from Picual, and are different to those. This fact helps explain the great chemical stability of the oils from Montoro-Adamuz, a characteristic which has meant that the extra virgin olive oils from this region have historically been valued.

The high content of polyphenols and natural antioxidant agents gives them some unique and extraordinary qualities, very beneficial for the health in the event of inflammation, thrombosis and other diseases such as arteriosclerosis and arterial hypertension, or in other words, they contribute to preventing cardiovascular risk.