Activities developed as part of the international collaboration between Unaprol and France Olive aimed at improving the quality, sustainability and traceability of EVO oil

The collaboration between France Olive and Unaprol, carried out within the framework of the programmes financed by Regulation 611/615 2014 and subsequent amendments and additions, was focused on developing shared and synergic actions intended to improve the quality, the sustainability of production, the traceability of the
supply chain and, last but not least, the distribution of the results obtained.

During the various meetings between Unaprol and France Olive, clear similarities emerged between olive growing in the south of France and in Italy, in particular with regard to the promotion of the varietal heritage and the high quality of production, which represent the real element of diversification of French and Italian extra virgin olive oil in
national and international markets. The activities developed have featured as a central element the certification of traceability of the supply chain carried out in partnership with French producers (oil mills and farms) and started from the sharing of the traceability specifications drawn up according to the UNI EN ISO 22005 standard “supply chain traceability” and from the use of common tools in the management of the certification especially of the agricultural phase through the customisation of the Olivo.net DSS (decision support system).

The Olivo.net – France Olive System has been developed by Unaprol in collaboration with Horta, a spin-off of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Piacenza, and has involved France Olive and its associated olive growers, with the main objective of improving the sustainable management of French olive groves through the introduction of the olivo.net Decision Support System, precision agriculture technology targeting supply chain traceability. The project included the creation of the platform and the validation of the forecasting models in the system. 15 weather stations were installed, and the olivo.net DSS was then adopted in 24 representative olive-growing areas in Provence, with the support and supervision of France Olive technicians.

Olivo.net® provides timely and detailed information on the many aspects of olive grove management and thereby enables the technician or olive grower to make better informed and faster decisions. More specifically, the DSS makes it possible to:

1. guarantee sustainable use of plant protection products (forecast models, optimisation of applications according to the weather, etc.) and the specificity of defence interventions in relation to the situation of individual olive groves;
2. preserve and optimise primary resources: soil, water, biodiversity;
3. improve the economic performance of the crop;
4. reduce the environmental impact of the crops without affectingtheir yields and technological quality;
5. improve the traceability and re-traceability of activities and operations recorded by the system during the season, allowing greater transparency and consequently providing greater added value along the supply chain;
6. continually access up-to-date information on technical equipment, their characteristics and limitations of use, environmental conditions, the situation of olive groves, the presence and development of diseases and pests;
7. cope with climatic variability, using tools capable of analysing it and mitigating its effects and supporting production;
8. monitor different olive groves remotely at the same time;
9. monitor the state of the land in real time and obtain forecasts of large areas.

The supply chain traceability pilot project was developed at the Moulin du Haut Jasson.
This facility, selected and assisted by France Olive technicians, was particularly suited to the development of activities. Indeed, since opening in 2004, Olivier Roux, the owner, has been passionately developing exceptional olive oils that have been awarded prizes in the most prestigious competitions held in France. In particular, the
implementation of the supply chain traceability specification has been particularly facilitated by the high quality standards of production/processing and the operational procedures that guarantee the traceability of production.

In fact, the facility has obtained the certification of traceability of the supply chain in accordance with the UN EN ISO 22005/08 standard through the verification of an accredited certification body.
This International Product Certification obtained by France Olive in favour of its associates is a further step towards the enhancement of high-quality sustainable productions linked to the production territories that constitute the real added value and that will be at the heart of the support policies for the sector that France Olive and Unaprol will develop with this fruitful collaboration.

^{Disclaimer: this is a sponsored post. Campaign funded with the contribution of the European Union and Italy EU Regulation 611-615/2014 and subsequent amendments and supplements}