LA ORGANIC IN RONDA, ANDALOUSIA & FINCA SON MIRANDA IN MAJORCA
History
More than two hundred years ago, a religious community in Ronda, one of the most emblematic and beautiful cities of Andalusia and Spain, began to produce olive oil using the fruit of centuries-old olive trees.
The oil produced in this olive grove, LA Amarilla, always had a great reputation among the locals as a product of unique and exceptional quality.
The Gómez de Baeza family, owners of LA Amarilla, decided to continue the tradition of the nuns and began the production and marketing of the best organic oil in Andalusia, founding LA ORGANIC in the 1990s.
As sales increased and the production of LA Amarilla was insufficient, LA ORGANIC took as a base the system of Pagos Asociados applied in the world of wines. This system guarantees a production in line with demand and LA Organic’s quality standards.
Arbequina, Hojiblanca, Picual, Picudo, Pajarera and Lechina are the main types of olives grown both on the estate and across 56 olive groves in five provinces for LA Organic’s range.
Financial Times, ‘A very pressing business’, 16 April 2022
THE NEW PROJECT LA ALMAZARA LA ORGANIC
LA ALMAZARA LA ORGANIC is in its first stages and will open its door in the first quarter of 2023. Its purpose is to build an olive oil mill at 2,5 km far from Ronda, Andalusia, solely dedicated to the 100% organic production of olive oil, its culture and gastronomy.
The Villar Mir family has joined the project, and the architecture will be directed by PHILIPPE STARCK, one of the most influential creators, architects and designers of the world. The idea is to create a state-of-the-art structure with recycled materials focused on the production of organic olive oil, which will also be used for cultural, educational and research purposes.
PHILIPPE STARCK
Philippe Starck is the Creative Director and co-founder of LA Organic. His vision has allowed us to create packaging and products that our customers can easily identify, differentiating them on the shelf and reflecting the elegance of our product, with minimalist and practical designs.
HIS CONTRIBUTION TO LA ORGANIC
LA Organic is another space for genius experimentation. Starck is a lover of Spain and Andalusia, he has walked every inch of our farm, he has soaked up our land and the culture of the olive tree and, with all this, he has created an unparalleled experience around oil tourism that seeks to surprise our visitor, make him reflect, find new points of view and -of course- have fun. To do this, he has designed an exterior route through our estate in which there are various works of art playing with reflections and perspectives that make the viewer a participant in his own work. When it is time to rest, the French designer and his team -with the collaboration of the renowned architect and interior designer Stefano Robotti- have left their mark on the interior design of El Cortijo, a project that maintains the traditional architecture and essence of the space intact, having introduced groundbreaker elements such as the fireplace or the spectacular staircase.
Our Greenhouse also has the Philippe Starck seal; an avant-garde, open, spacious and unique greenhouse with a bar, terraces, a space for projections… designed for events and lunches with friends, with a capacity of 200 people. But the alma mater of LA Organic and where the essence of Starck can be breathed the most will be in our Almazara-Museum –currently under construction; the work will end in 2023-. It is a daring architectural project loaded with symbols and nods to the folklore of Spain and Andalusia; a unique building, the only one of its kind in the world, raised between olive groves where our visitors will see our fruits turn into oil and will be able to learn everything about this product, the EVOO, which gives LA Organic our reason for being. If you want to know more about our Museum-Almazara, you can continue reading in this blog entry:
https://www.laorganic.es/noticia/arranca-nuestro-museo-almazara/
LA ORGANIC ORIGINAL INTENSE (500ML)
Smooth and agreeable in texture, this oil combines an intriguing flavour of walnuts with aromatic touches of tomato leaf, apple, green banana and acerola peel, enhanced by a deep, pleasurable aftertaste. Its plainly Spanish character comes from its fleshiness and agreeable aftertaste.
Olive varieties: Picual, Hojiblanca, Arbequina.
LA ORGANIC ORO (250ML)
It has an agile and energetic palate, with tones of green tomato, apple and walnut. The plainly Spanish character comes from its fleshiness and agreeable aftertaste. A bright, vivacious oil with deliciously fragrant notes of wild flowers and fresh vegetables. Rich in texture, it boasts a robust tangy flavour with peppery overtones, leaving a satisfying aftertaste.
Olive variety: Picudo
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Financial Times: Philippe Starck: superstar designer and olive oil advocate
The starchitect’s friendship with investment banker Pedro Gómez de Baeza is growing into a bullish agritourism business in Andalucía
https://www.ft.com/content/faf8fb01-c22a-44e9-bd8e-038281457e1d
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ORGANIC FARMING
FROM AN ECOLOGICAL MODEL TO AN INTENSIVE INDUSTRY
We humans learned more than 10,000 years ago how to get a higher return from the plant resources nature gave us by domesticating different species, thus creating agriculture and allowing us to move from a nomadic lifestyle to one based around settlement. Thus we began our journey towards civilization. For thousands of years we leveraged techniques that harnessed solar energy and local resources to exploit the land, but in the twentieth century came a revolution in the escalation of the use of fossil fuels for farming and chemicals to boost crop performance, with the consequent environmental impact. The growing demand for food products due to the exponential rise in population (one billion people in the year 1800 compared to more than seven billion by 2011) has only made it worse. The modern agrofood system has undergone a watershed change in recent years towards a more respectful and sustainable model to not only reduce industry’s footprint on the natural environment but also because numerous studies have shown that, in health terms, it is better to eat organic.
RESPONSIBLE FARMING
The use of fossil fuels has triggered a surge in the effect of greenhouse gases, known to directly impact the size of the ozone layer, global warming, acid rain and smog. The density of forest cover can counteract the impact of GHGs, as plants are carbon reserves in the form of biomass and contribute through photosynthesis to bringing down carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Farming, when done in environmentally friendly conditions, can contribute to biodiversity and stop erosion and desertification. Woody plant species such as trees are particularly efficient in this regard.
According to a study by the University of Cordoba’s Ecological Livestock Chair (Ecovalia), olive groves have especially efficient qualities for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, since the olive is a slow-growing woody species (meaning a high long-term sequestration of biomass and hence mitigation of carbon build-up). Olive cultivation is distinguished as one of the main crops in Spain.
Andalusia is home to the largest olive-growing areas in the country, and increasing stretches of land are being turned over to environmentally friendly organic farming techniques.
In Spain, meanwhile, organic production has been regulated since 1989. Spain has more land devoted to organic farming than any other country in the European Union (just over two million hectares in 2017). It is also among the top five nations in the world and climbing (4.7% average annual growth in total area in the past five years).
BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS ORGANIC FARMING?
Organic or biological farming is understood as the production system that efficiently harnesses natural resources while reducing the environmental impact. It produces no contaminating waste and preserves nature’s biological cycle. Organic farming entails suppressing the use of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms to produce quality produce and ensure food safety.
It also has positive effects on the environment, encouraging rural development, boosting soil fertility, preventing forms of pollution, preserving biodiversity and enhancing the quality of life on the land. It is environmentally sustainable and economically profitable.
WHY IS IT GOOD FOR US TO CONSUME ORGANIC PRODUCTS?
The fruits of organic farming are free of pesticides, i.e., the chemicals used in conventional farming which have adverse health effects (for farmers and consumers) and which damage the natural environment. They are also free of genetically modified organisms, or transgenic products, whose long-term effects are unknown and which contribute to the loss of biodiversity.
Organic products are free of synthetic additives, making them more nutritious, and antibiotics (in the case of livestock), so there is no risk of these chemicals entering and being stored in our bodies and tissues, where they release toxins that affect our wellbeing.
Lastly, and bearing in mind that organic foods respect and help preserve the environment, they are also much tastier, as plants can develop at nature’s pace, meaning they are in an optimal condition to produce the highest quality fruits.
ORGANIC FARMING AND TOURISM
Farming and tourism are extremely important to the Andalusian economy and society. Specifically, organic farming accounts for over 42,000 jobs, its income exceeds €400Mn and it has an export value of €680Mn (around half the Spanish farming total). Leading organic industries include vegetable packing, followed by olive oil mills (412, many open for tours).
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Organic olive farming in Andalusia, Spain. A review
Abstract
Olive is a key crop in the Mediterranean basin, socially, economically, and environmentally, being a major source of rural employment. Organic products such as olive oil have attracted many types of consumers in recent years. In this context, the Mediterranean basin represents 5 Mha of the 10 Mha of olive farming worldwide, with Spain being the leading producer. Also, during the recent decades, olive farmers met the challenges of sustainability by implementing principles of agroecological production. Therefore, the focal point is no longer exclusively on yields but also on the quality, health, and environmental aspects of products and systems. In this work, we review and analyse the global situation of organic farming, focusing on the development, current status, perspectives, and opportunities of organic olive farming in Andalusia (S Spain). In addition, we assess the environmental benefits and consequences of the shift from conventional to organic management of olive orchards, focusing on the improvement of soil quality and biodiversity. Also, the general factors affecting the decision making for acquiring organic olive oil are discussed. Our main findings show the following: (1) It is necessary to encourage educational and research programmes to promote the demand for these products, positively affecting consumer health, protecting the environment, and improving rural economies. (2) The future of organic agriculture will depend on its economic viability and on the determination shown by governments to protect these practices. (3) Further support for funding research is needed to continue studying the effect of olive cultivation on soil biological quality, changes in soil properties, and biodiversity. More importantly, these beneficial extra outputs produced for society must be interiorised in economic value to compensate organic oil producers. (4) Finally, a clear understanding of attitudes and preferences, as well as the motivations of consumer when making the choice for organic olive products, is essential in responding to this specific demand. However, as stated above, major institutional and educational actions are also needed in order to boost sustainable organic olive farming and thus the preference for organic olive oil.
Introduction
The application of organic agriculture results in less leaching of nutrients and higher carbon storage, lower erosion rates, and lower levels of pesticides in water bodies (Reganold et al. 1987; Kreuger et al. 1999; Mäder et al. 2002). In this holistic approach, the farm is seen as part of nature, a self-contained system that keeps external inputs to a minimum (FAO 2014). Additionally, organic farming strongly relies on closed on-farm nutrient cycling for “closing the loop”, including biological nitrogen fixation or crop rotation to enhance soil fertility by protecting soil organic-matter content (Leifeld 2012). Thus, this agricultural management system protects biodiversity, biological cycles, and natural soil activity and keeps off-farm inputs to a minimum while supporting techniques that conserve ecological equilibrium (Gold 2014).
On the other hand, techniques from intensive agriculture have led to the depletion of forests and grasslands over the past decades. In fact, it is predicted that during the coming years, agricultural expansion will significantly impact global biodiversity (Bienvenuti and Bretzel 2017). For instance, these artificial systems are directly related to the decline in bird populations on European farmland (Donald et al. 2001) and to the loss of invertebrate taxa (Preston et al. 2002). Additionally, Hole et al. (2005) in relation to the comparison between conventional and organic systems stated that a wide range of taxa, from different groups such as birds, mammals, invertebrates, and arable flora, decreases in abundance and/or species richness in intensive agriculture.
Nevertheless, many sectors contrary to organic agriculture base their arguments on the lower crop yields. According to FAO (2014), the performance of organic agriculture on production depends on the previous agricultural management system. Hence, in industrial countries, organic systems generally produce lower yield, by an amount which depends on the intensity of external inputs previously used. However, in irrigated lands, organic agriculture usually leads to almost identical production levels. Moreover, in many traditional rain-fed agricultural areas (with low external inputs), organic agriculture has proved to be able to increase yields.
In the EU, since the beginning of the 1990s, considerable efforts have been made to promote and develop organic agriculture. To achieve this, EU countries have provided financial assistance for organic producers such as conversion subsidies for compensating the lower incomes earned during the beginning of conversion (EC 2017).
In this context, the expansion of the cultivation of olive (Olea europaea L.) trees in the Mediterranean basin is clearly the paradigm for the increased specialisation throughout southern European countries in recent decades (Fig. 1). The territorial impact of olive cultivation in southern Spain is in fact of high importance, since it has an extremely high level of land occupation and it is the leading olive oil producer and exporter of the world. In 2015, the production for olive growing was 7,352,095 t, with an efficiency ranging from 2270 to 5356 kg ha−1 for rain-fed and irrigated plantations, respectively (Anuario de Estadística 2016). Olive is indeed in some provinces such as Jaén and Córdoba an extreme case of monoculture with over 91% of land occupied by olive trees, making it one of the highest concentrations of tree crops in the entire EU (Sánchez and Paniza 2015). Likewise, organic olive oil production has considerably increased worldwide (FIBL and IFOAM 2016), but everything is not advantageous, as organic agriculture also has several drawbacks that should be taken into account, such as expensive certification systems or few organic inputs available in some places, making the final price of the organic products generally higher. Nevertheless, this price increase is often justified, due to the higher production costs for organic foods because of greater labour inputs per unit of output and the expensive control systems to avoid fraud. Also, the production can be uneven, and therefore the harvest and distribution costs are greater than those for conventional foods.
In this work, we review and discuss the global situation of organic farming, focusing on the development, current situation, perspectives, and opportunities of organic olive farming in Andalusia (S Spain). In addition, we analyse the environmental benefits and consequences of the shift from conventional to organic management of olive orchards, focusing on the improvement of soil quality and biodiversity. Also, the general factors that govern the decision making for acquiring organic olive oil are discussed.
Growth of the European organic farming sector
By Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (EC 2007), the European Council of Agricultural Ministers established an organic regulation on the production and labelling of organic products. This policy defined objectives, principles, and general rules for organic production and replaced Regulation (EEC) 2092/91. The results of these policies were as expected: the surface area of organic agricultural land has vastly increased, each year, with 500,000 ha of agricultural land being converted to organic in the EU. For 2000–2012, the total organic area increased by 6.7% yearly, to reach 9.6 million ha, which is 5.4% of the total agricultural area used in the EU (COM 2014).
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