A territory like that of Mediterranean Europe offers an enormous variety of high quality olive types that are widely diversified over the array of origins and each of these expresses its own conditions of environment, climate and landscape.
The result of this wealth of variety is an extraordinary biodiversity, to which each specific territory contributes with its own cultivated varieties (“cultivar”) of olives. Each cultivar provides its own personal properties of taste and smell to create this great wealth.
The European production of olives is particularly articulated with the single cultivars being the fruit of their unique territorial conditions and a specific genetic structure that has evolved naturally over time and represents an inimitable heritage in terms of nutritional character and taste.
The production regulations of PDO and PGI olive oils precisely indicate the types of cultivars that can be used for the production of a specific certified oil. Learning to distinguish between the different varieties is an important step in appreciating the best of these excellent resources of European agricultural heritage.
For this reason, products such as PDO and PGI olive oils guarantee the consumer is provided with clear information so that they can appreciate the wealth of European cultivars they come from. By knowing the precise origin and variety of olives used, the consumer will be certain to purchase a specific product with particular sensory characteristics. Traceability is also fundamental for biological extra-virgin olive oil. In order to receive the certification, ORGANIC oils must be produced using olives of a certain and traceable origin.
The country with the greatest concentration of biodiversity in olive trees is Italy. Over time, this country has developed and allowed the evolution of more than 600 autochthonous cultivars, becoming first in the world by a wide margin.