Istria has now unquestionably established itself as one of the most attractive gastronomic regions, not only in the Mediterranean, but also globally, and one of the strongest foundations of its recognizability lies in olive growing. Moreover, this magical region of our beautiful country has been declared the best olive growing region in the world for the seventh year in a row by the world’s most respected and influential guide for extra virgin olive oil – Flos Olei.
What is the secret to the success of the fantastic Istrian olive growers, how difficult is it to produce quality olive oil—especially one that will compete with the best in the world—and what is the basis of Istria’s reputation as a top gastronomic region for olive oil? These and other questions were discussed by Maria Paola Gabusi, president of the O’Live & Italy Cultural Association; Tedi Chiavalon, olive oil producer from Vodnjan; and Denis Ivošević, director of the Istrian County Tourist Board, at the panel “Why Istria is the best olive growing region in the world,” moderated by Irina Ban, expert for strategic communications and branding professional.
“Twenty years ago we didn’t even put labels on our olive oil, let alone talk about it. Today, the production of olive oil is a truly high-tech process, and producers such as myself must constantly improve and keep pace with advances in technology. We’ve never declared ourselves to be the best, but we’ve always questioned why the neighbour’s grass is so green and what we can do to achieve the same results. We are constantly looking to the very best olive oil producers. That is how we realized that we must first change the technology of oil extraction, which is, among other things, one of the factors that makes our product so excellent,” said the renowned Istrian olive oil producer, Tedi Chiavalon.
Maria Paola Gabusi also pointed out how challenging and technologically demanding the production of extra virgin olive oil is: “Extra virgin olives come from the superior category of olives and must undergo strict sensory analysis. However, 95% of the ‘extra virgin’ olive oil we find on store shelves are declared as such by the companies that bottle them, not by the suppliers themselves. Moreover, they are often given Italian or Mediterranean-sounding names, and have not in fact undergone any extra analysis. The problem is that most people are not aware of this. Extra virgin olive oil must have absolutely no defects, and the oils we mostly buy in the markets could have as many as 18 different defects.”
Denis Ivošević, director of the Istria County Tourist Board, explained how Istria goes about facing this challenge and how the well-known story of Istria as an extraordinary olive-growing region began in the first place. “In the beginning, we competed with mass tourist destinations, but we soon realized that we were not so big, well-recognized and strong. So we decided to differentiate ourselves by focusing on something smaller and very specific. We found the answer in extra virgin olive oil, a story that fit in perfectly with our wines, truffles, prosciutto and other indigenous products. Our initial premise was completely different from those found in other countries, such as Italy and Spain. We were aware that we must not produce medium quality olive oil precisely because we are so small and that our only path to success lay in the production of only the highest quality olive oil,” he said, emphasizing that education is the key to development, while clear goals and a high quality product are the basis for a success story.
The panelists agreed with the conclusion that the key to Istria’s continued success lies in the cooperation of the manufacturing, business and scientific sectors and that the desired results cannot be achieved without a common goal pursued by all key actors. Thus, the success story of Istrian olive growers is a very commendable story about the synergy of the whole community of local producers, united in the desire to present to the world the true charms of their gastronomic heritage.
