The Region of Western Greece as a conclusion of the European
Project “Authentic Olive Net” held a very successful two days event
on Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th of March, on the
Gourdoupis Estate in the Chalandritsa area of Patras. During the
event a product exhibition of the olive oil producers who participated
in the project also took place. On Friday the 18th , the participants
(representatives of scientific agencies, olive oil producing
companies and producers) had the opportunity to watch interesting
presentations about the bioactive ingredients of olive oil, their
contribution on the consumers’ health, as well as statistical analytics
about the production, the consumption and the commercial use of
olive oil in Greece, as well as internationally.
After the conclusion of the presentations, an olive oil taste event
took place, supervised by Mr. Katsaris Panagiotis an Agriculturalist
– Biotechnologist, who is a member of the special scientific stuff of
the EL.GO. Dimitra Organization.
On Saturday the 19th the Final Conference of the Authentic Olive
Net Project took place which was attended by representatives of the
Chamber of Preveza and of the EL.GO. Dimitra Organization. It
was also attended on line by representatives of the Agricultural
Cooperative of Assoproli of Bari, as well as of the Chamber of
Foggia.
All the project participants presented in an analytical way the actions, the
olive oil authenticity certification tools and the results of the project, which
will become an extremely useful tool for those who are connected with the
cultivation, the production, the standardization and the distribution of olive
oil.
At the Conference also attended and addressed to the participants the
Vise Governor of Achaia Mr Charalambos Bonanos, Deputy Head of
Regional Unit of Achaia Mr. Fokion Zaimis, Deputy Governor of
Entrepreneurship Research & Innovation.
The Deputy Governor of Entrepreneurship Research & Innovation
Fokion Zaimis stated that it is of great importance the capitalization of the
results of the “Authentic Olive Net” project, in a counterpart European
project which can follow, in order to create a data bank for the olive oil
varieties, emphasizing on local varieties of Western Greece, in order for
them to be rescued, promoted and utilized.
Mr. Baris Theodoros, the president of the Chamber of Preveza Mr.
Ioannis Bouris and Mrs Aggeliki Konstantinidi, head of the Women
Entrepreneurship of the Chamber of Perveza and representative of
EEDEGE.
It was of particular interest the Capitalization Workshop, during which
the implementation of the data and also of the results of the project was
thoroughly discussed, in order for the innovative network for promoting the
comparative advantages of olive oil varieties of the Greece – Italy region,
which was analyzed during the project, to evolve in support of olive oil
producing companies.
A primary target is to expand the network and in the long run to include
producers and companies from a broad spectrum of different olive oil
varieties. Furthermore, the future prospect and verification methodology of
the authentication of olive oil, as this was analyzed during the project was
discussed, so that the existing quality verification process is legally fortified.
