More than 4,000 visitors from 82 countries have confirmed the success of the WOOE

The 9^th WOOE —the international trade fair exclusively devoted to olive oil— came to an end exceeding expectations once again. Producers, buyers, olive mills and all the agents related to the olive oil industry were gathered during two days in Pavilion 1 at IFEMA Madrid.

The IOC’s Executive Director, Abdellatif Ghedira, was in charge of inaugurating the fair, accompanied by Otilia Romero de Condes, CEO of Pomona Keepers, and José Luis Murcia, the WOOE’s Executive Director.

Health, trade, consumption, market trends, and certifications were some of the issues addressed during the fair, which hosted over 4,000 visitors coming from 82 different countries (of which 35 were purchasing countries).

After two years absent due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, the World Olive Oil Exhibition has made it clear that this is the key trade fair for the olive oil industry on a global scale. During a period of two days (March 8^th and 9^th), Pavilion 1 at IFEMA MADRID turned into the meeting point for all who participate in the olive oil sector. More than 4,000 visitors, coming from 82 different countries, of which 35 were purchasing countries, reunited at the world’s sole event exclusively devoted to liquid gold.

Abdellatif Ghedira, Executive Director of the International Olive Council, was once again in charge of inaugurating the WOOE, accompanied by Otilia Romero de Condes, CEO of Pomona Keepers, and José Luis Murcia, WOOE’s Executive Director. ln addition to numerous authorities from Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia and Madrid regional governments, we would also like to highlight the presence of: Malek Twal, Ambassador of the Arab League; Kifaya Khamis Miyah Al-Raisi, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman; Said Moussi, Ambassador of Algeria; and diplomats from the embassies of Iraq, Sudan, Tunisia, Qatar, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco and Libya. All these countries —alongside Greece and Italy, who also participated in the fair— are the main markets involved in olive oil trade; therefore, confirming that this year, in the aftermath of the pandemic, the WOOE is once again the foremost international event for the olive oil sector.

For the ninth consecutive year, “the World Olive Oil Exhibition has once again proven that this is a fair entirely dedicated to the world of olive oil. This year more than ever and after two years without being able to gather, we have proven that all our efforts have been worthwhile, since the fair has exceeded all expectations”, remarked Otilia Romero de Condes. Not surprisingly, once again, this fair brought together producers and consumers while managing to support companies related to EVOO to consolidate their businesses; simultaneously, all those olive oil lovers had the opportunity to explore, discover and live experiences around this culinary jewel of our gastronomy.

As part of the keynote speeches that took place, the Study on the beneficial effects of olive oils presented by the Spanish Olive Oil Inter-professional Association is to be highlighted. This keynote lecture was conducted by Pedro Barato, President of the Olive Oil Inter-professional Association, and Enrique Ruiz Escudero, Minister of Health of Madrid’s regional government. “Healthiness is new consumers’ main reason for buying and the pandemic has done nothing but to increase the consumers’ willingness to eat in a healthier way”, affirmed Pedro Barato at the presentation.

The book Analysis of Olive Oil Consumption in Purchasing Countries by Juan Vilar, author, was presented on the first day of the fair; the talk on “INRA’s main achievements in olive grove development in Morocco” run by Sara Oulbi, from the National Institute for Agricultural Research in Meknes (Morocco), also took place on that same day. This first-day session ended with a round table discussion on innovation and resource optimization in olive oil.

On Wednesday 9^th, we opened with a keynote speech on “New key points regarding the US olive oil industry” by Joseph Profaci, Executive Director of the North American Olive Oil Association, and continued with a presentation of olive oils with a PGI from Jaen. Furthermore, two round table discussions took place: one focused on “The potential of being awarded certificates within the olive oil sector”, and the other on olive oil distribution, marketing, and consumption patterns. This two-day Conference came to an end with the lecture headed by Juan Vilar under the title “Worldwide Production Forecasts”.

The Tasting Room was once again one of the fair’s most frequented spots, in which several tasting sessions were held: a tasting of Picual olive oils recognized with the seal of “Jaén Selección”, conducted by Anunciación Carpio; a tasting session with olive oils from the province of Toledo; a tasting of Andalusian olive oils paired with creations by the chef Manu Urbano; a tasting session with the top-5 single-varietal EVOOs from the Mediterranean, and a historical olive oil-tasting with three EVOOs from the Mediterranean, both conducted by José María Penco; among others.

Manu Urbano, chef at La Malaje was responsible for carrying out one of this year’s novelties at the WOOE’s: a food pairing with a tasting of Andalusian olive oils with a Designation of Origin, which was conducted by Francisca García, Head of the Tasting Panel of the PDO “Priego de Córdoba”.

Culinary demonstrations, competitions, awards…

Once again, the WOOE Challenge (A salad competition) took place; this competition was sponsored by “Campo y Alma”, the quality and warranty brand certification for products from Castile-La Mancha. The winner of the WOOE Salad Challenge was Beltrán Alonso, chef at Casa Mories. Given last year’s success of this competition, on this occasion, a new competition, called the WOOE “Ajoblanco” Challenge, was launched with the collaboration of “Gusto del Sur” and the Andalusian regional government; and the winner was Miguel Durán, chef at the restaurant El Reloj de Harry & Sally.

As always, the Gourmet Area offered the culinary demonstration by Kike Piñeiro, chef at A Horta do Obradoiro, who was also in charge of presenting a gastronomic creation (Roots from land and sea), elaborated using the olive oils awarded by “Alimentos de España”.

The 9^th WOOE concluded with the award ceremony for the Olive Oil Delicatessen Awards recognizing companies that include olive oil in their products. The winners of the 2020 Olive Oil Delicatessen Awards also received their prizes given the fact that the event couldn´t be held since then.