6th World Olive Oil Exhibition Returns to Madrid
Spain's World Olive Oil Exhibition is entering its sixth year with a renewed focus on new markets and climate change.
The sixth edition of the World Olive Oil Exhibition (WOOE) will take place March 29 – 30 at Madrid’s Trade Fair Institution (IFEMA) in Spain.
This year’s event will feature new backing from the newly established financial institution of Globalcaja — a merger between three major rural banks in the area — as and an increased focus on international markets and climate change.
The main organizer of the exhibition is the spanish company Pomona Keepers, S.L.U. with the backing of the recently created bank Globalcaja and other partners linked by a common interest in marketing oil across the globe. The World Olive Oil Exhibition was born to pursue their goal of maintaining the world’s area under oils as means of supporting a substantial rural population and environment protection.
The World Olive Oil Exhibition aims to open new markets to the product and bring together producers and buyers in one place, making it an event attended by investors, members of the media, traders and buyers as well as insurance, transport and logistic professionals. It provides opportunities for both established and up-and-coming brands to commune with other industry players. Last year saw over 120 oil mills, olive oil cooperatives and companies represented. Organizers said more than 3,000 people from at least 50 countries are estimated to attend this year.
Visitors and participants can look forward to cooking and tasting demonstrations in addition to the conference program put in place. There will also be dedicated areas for meetings and exhibitions.
Cristina Villar Miranda, the World Olive Oil Exhibition communications manager, told Olive Oil Times WOOE hopes to be “the world’s most acclaimed monographic event devoted exclusively to olive oil across all aspects.”
Miranda said the event is updated every year with changes linked to increasing internationalization, taking into account the fact that Spain gathers approximately half of the world’s olive crop and is a big part of commercial exchanges. There has been an increase in mass-purchasing from countries such as the USA, France, Germany, Canada, China, Russia and Brazil, with growing interest from emerging markets in countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and South Korea.
In line with this increasing emphasis on serving an international market, WOOE will feature presentations from Abdellatif Ghedira, executive director of the International Olive Council on the current figures in the global olive oil industry.
There will also be an increased focus on the environment, with climate change taking center stage in presentations by CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) and by Antonio La Cal Herrera, an associate professor at the University of Jaén.