Within the marketing area of ARTOLIO, there are those who count with first-hand experience on how to manage an olive groove and that combine their knowledge about agronomy with marketing and business strategies. After all, ARTOLIO is not only concerned about the quality of its farmers' extra virgin olive oil, but also about how their businesses are faring. A diverse team that understand the importance of those two areas is the key to the project’s success. 

Arturo García-Agulló is an example of the well-prepared team that constitutes ARTOLIO’s business and economic approach to extra virgin olive oil in the Mediterranean basin. He works with the Spanish team at the University Institute of Research in Olive Grove and Olive Oils, University of Jaen. Within the Spanish marketing team, led by Arturo himself, they’ve focused on key elements like branding, income statement and management control. They had started off with 3 brands, 2 belonging to farmers and 1 from the olive mill, and now they have implemented 3 more brands from the remaining farmers. “Our aim this year is to start the commercialization of bottled oils from the farmers under the ARTOLIO seal of quality”, adds Arturo, when asked about what lies ahead for them until the project’s complexion. 

On the income statement side, they managed to standardize the criteria for the allocation of expenses and the improvement of profitability, but their goal is to help the farmers improve their profitability. It will be achieved by improving the quality of the extra virgin olive oils and by incorporating the commercial margins from the field to the final customer. With that in mind, the Spanish team is in the process of organizing an info day regarding the farmers' profitability during this year. The purpose is to analyze marketing strategies and to establish the next course of action that is to be followed until the project is over.

“I joined ARTOLIO because I believe it is essential for our farmers and olive millers to strengthen their knowledge about the product, and focus all the efforts on the quality and on how to make profit. The future of our extra virgin olive oils is the quality of an artisanal product, a healthy product, and a sustainable product. I thought that it was an excellent opportunity to show the farmers a way to improve and how to collaborate, for the sake of their local economy and also for themselves.”