Feature: Reviving old tradition, Croatian county leading in olive oil production in Europe
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E-mail Xinhua, October 24, 2017
by Relja Dusek
VODNJAN, Croatia, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's Istria is often described for its lush forests, vineyards and medieval hilltop towns. As regards olive oil production,the county is a step ahead of some other areas in Europe.
In the last few years, this heart-shaped peninsula in Croatia has become a global leader in high-quality olive oil production. The Flos Olei, an Italian annual catalog of the best olive oil, hailed Istria as the best olive oil region in 2015 and 2016. More than 50 Istrian olive oil brands are included in the best 500 in the world.
Olives have always been important in Istria. Over the last 20 years, a new generation of young olive oil producers revived old tradition and improved it in a better way.
Sandi Chiavalon is one of th producers who changed everything. When he was just 13, his grandfather gave him 30 olive trees as a present. His father and grandfather died on that same year, and Sandi planted his first 100 olive trees to honor them.
Although his family had never been into agriculture business, he was always dreaming to become a farmer, and each year he would plant 100 or more new trees. In 2007, he took a loan and planted 2,000 olive trees. His elder brother, Tedi Chiavalon, joined him and now they run a very successful family business.
"Today, we have 7,500 olive trees, and we take care of 2,500 more from our neighbors and partners. Last year we produced 16,000 liters of olive oil and we expect to reach the maximum of 40,000 liters in seven years", Tedi Chiavlon, also co-owner of the Chiavalon company, told Xinhua.
Tedi is responsible for the management while the younger Sandi is behind everything in the field. He is the one who started the business and revolutionized the way it is done.
"Twenty years ago, people in Istria would harvest in December, even January, just to get more oil from the olives. I was among the first who started an early harvest in October. They all thought I was crazy, but soon after the first awards came, people changed their behavior and now 90 percent of producers do the harvest in the first three weeks of October", Sandi told Xinhua. He explained that early harvest guarantees the best quality.
"Out of 100 kilos, we get seven to nine liters of oil. It is not much. If we would wait for just a month, we could get two or even three times more, but then it would not be the best in the world", he said.
The Chiavalon brothers are well aware that they cannot fight on the global market with the quantity. Quality is all they have. "We have adopted the kind of a quality chain, starting from the soil and finishing with the final product in a way that we can guarantee to our customers only the best quality", Tedi emphasized.
Apart from early harvest, another secret of the perfect olive oil is location. Istria is the most northern region in Europe where olives grow. Just a few steps up north and there are no olive trees anymore.
"It is a perfect climate for olive trees. It is not so hot as in a south, so quality is much better. Also, Istrian red soil and high amount of stones are ideal for trees because they preserve humidity", Sandi explained.
He argued that the knowledge and new technologies are still vital to get a competitive product. "It is very important for us to shorten the gap between harvesting and processing in the mill. If you want the top quality of the oil, you have to go to the mill on the same day of the harvest. We do it in maximum four or five hours, so we have oil just a few hours after the harvest", Sandi said.
Since their production is growing every year, local mills couldn't handle so many olives, so the brothers decided to invest in their own mill. "It is arriving this week, and I think this will be a new chapter of our business", he noted.
Thousands of visitors come each year to their house in Vodnjan to taste the oil and get a bottle of it.
"This is one of the most amazing products I tasted in my life. And, remember, I'm a French, I'm used to very good wines and products, but this is something special. When you see the balance of nature and how natural things are here, when you see the love of people doing what they do, it makes sense to spend time here and learn more about olive oil and production", a visitor who gave his name as David told Xinhua. Enditem
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