In order to broaden the trade opportunities for Italian extra virgin olive oil in the Far East and to move past last fall’s headlines of adulterated Italian olive oil — from China blocking imports to the New York Times infographic – this Wednesday the local office of ICE (Italian Institute for Foreign Trade) and Unaprol, the main Italian growers’ union, are promoting a seminar in Taipei about “real” Italian extra virgin..
The Hotel Humble House in Taipei will host the seminar about the world trade of olive oil and Italian production followed by a seminar about sensory analysis. The Taiwanese press will be invited to interview the speakers in order to spread information in a marketplace of over 23 millions consumers with a per capita income of about USD 21,000 and an overall GNP of about USD 500 billion.
Chiara Petrò, trade commissioner at the ICE office in Taiwan says the event aims to make consumers, restaurateurs, journalists and opinion leaders aware of high quality, fully traceable extra virgin olive oil made in Italy.
Last December Italian olive oil imports were blacklisted in Taiwan, when some shipments were found to contain E141ii (Chlorophyllin copper complexes), a colorant agent.
The East Asia island is a precious end market and trade partner for Italy, in part thanks to previous meetings of the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Monetary Forum that helped broaden the investments and partnership opportunities between the two countries. Italian investments in the island amount to USD 105 million, mainly concentrated in the chemical and the mechanical fields.
“We must play the “Made in Italy” trump card,” Unaprol president Massimo Gargano stressed. “Beside this event, our aim is to explain the difference between the several categories of olive oils, to help the consumers choosing the best one and to let them understand that there are several products, each of them with its peculiarities; extra virgin olive oil is mainly good for health.”