For Award-Winning Producer Aires de Jaén, Sustainability is Key to Quality

The producers behind Aires de Jaén are celebrating the two Gold Awards they won at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

The producers' extra virgin olive oils have won the competition five times. Aires de Jaén's olive fields border the Guadalquivir River in Jaén, Andalusia, which produces a lot of olive oil.

Today, the company exports extra virgin olive oil to dozens of countries, manages its own mill, and can store up to 20 million liters of olive oil. The farms’ olive groves include traditional orchards and high-density and super-high-density plantations.

Every year, its industrial plant bottles up to nine million liters of olive oil. “Half of the energy required to produce our olive oil bottles comes from solar energy,” López Sanchez-Polaina said.

"We are increasingly focused on the circular economy," López Sanchez-Polaina stated."Take vegetation [olive waste] water. The olive produces half of it. We clean olives with it and condition it for field usage."

Pruning and milling leaves enhance soil. Olive pits fuel factory water systems."At the point where we are now, there are no leftovers from the olive milling operations," López Sanchez-Polaina remarked."We produce zero waste."

“It is crucial,” he said. “Looking at the olives, at the health of the trees and then choosing the exact timing for harvest. For our early harvest products, we will wait for the green olive to start turning purple.”

Given the early harvest needs and the daily temperatures, which remain high in October, when the harvest usually begins, the company keeps an eye open on the temperature of the olives.

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