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“Born in Spain, Admired all over the World” is the theme for the 2015 Interaceituna campaign to promote and inform the international community of the origin, variety, and quality of Spanish olives.
The bold theme, bolstered by the face of celebrated tennis star Rafael Nadal, takes its cue from fact: Spain is the world’s leading producer and exporter of table olives (and olive oil), with consumers from 130 countries purchasing the prized Spanish fruit in a variety of forms. The correlation with the audacious athlete draws a parallel to the values being represented by the inter-professional organization: leadership, quality, effort, health, and national pride.
With Andalusia and Extremadura the leading regions in the continued Spanish olive boom, the country’s sunny, temperate, year-round climate, and its rich, fertile soil are idyllic for growing the perfect olive. The promotion provides information to major markets including the U.K., U.S., France, India, Russia, Poland and many more about growing conditions, cultivars, harvesting and processing, the diversity of options and adjunct versatility available within the category, and the health benefits proffered by the fruit.
Kicking off last month at the 2015 Fancy Food Show in New York City, the campaign made its debut before approximately 30,000 visitors at the Jacob Javitz Center. International Culinary Center professor, Chef Jose Menendez, led a series of tastings and demonstrations. In addition to Interaceituna, the “Olives from Spain” effort is also supported by Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs.
According to Jeffrey Shaw, the director of Foods from Spain at the Spanish trade commission in New York, the global public relations and marketing agency Ketchum is leading the promotional campaign.