Olio Capitale, extra virgin oilve oil fair

103 oil brands among the best in the world will come together in Trieste for the second “Olio Capitale” fair, an event entirely consecrated to high-quality extra-virgin oil, starting on the 7 March and continuing up to 10 March 2008.
113 kinds of olive oil (as opposed to 70 last year) will take part in the “Olio Capitale Contest”, a competition organised by the specialised review “Teatro Naturale”. “For four days oil will be the centre of attention”, as Mr. Fulvio Bronzi, president of Fiera Trieste Spa., stated today at the well-renowned Expo Mittelschool in Trieste.

The fair brings together the best national and international oil producers as well as a great deal of visitors and restaurateurs from the Alpe Adria area. Ahead of the fair many additional activities will take place and taste-tours will be offered by Fiera Trieste Spa in a partnership with the Città dell’Olio National Association, the Chamber of Commerce of Trieste, the City and the Province of Trieste. The municipalities of Muggia, San Dorlingo and the Tergeste Dop. consortium are involved in the event as well.

The fair will take place in the pavilions A and B (2,400 sqm) at the Montebello fairground A free shuttle bus service will be granted by the Council Committee for Economic Development of Trieste so as to guarantee a constant as well as rapid transport link from the fair to Piazza Borsa and back throughout the fair time. During the “Oil week”, which starts on 4 March and continues until 10 March, a gazebo will be set up in Piazza Borsa by OLEA, a committee of skilled olive oil testers. A team made up of testers and hotel-management students will thus assess the visitors’ tastes. Free coupons will be handed out which will enable visitors to visit the fair at a discounted price. Inside the fair area a free “Oilbar” will be set up, where the public will get the chance to taste a wide range of oils assisted by ONAOO professionals.

Fiera Trieste Spa and Udine-Gorizia Fiere will start a partnership for the first time. From 10 March to 13 March the city of Udine will host “Alpe Adria Cooking” and “Olio Capitale” will take part in the event by setting up a stand where visitors will get the chance to taste some of the olive oils presented in Trieste.

Visitors will certainly have a good time and learn more about oil. They will also get the chance to take part in the tasting sessions arranged by experts in the field and become members of the non-expert panel of the Olio Capitale Contest if they wish to. Inside the pavilions oil-based cooking sessions will be held which will highlight the healthy properties of oil, together with round tables and discussion groups about the use of oil in beauty treatment.

The fair will be attended by foreign buyers coming from: Austria, Germany, Switzerland, United States, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine and Hungary, thus giving oil producers an excellent opportunity to broaden their commercial relations worldwide.

After the press conference, lady experts in the olive oil sector shared their knowledge at the Expo Mittelschool of Trieste and discussed the presence of women in the field. Miss Rossana Bettini, journalist, attended the event together with many other well-renowned lady experts who illustrated their research on the subject. Maria Luisa Pizzulin (Biology Department, University of Trieste) commented her research on the Bianchera cultivar, Luciana Pecile (Supervisor of the Agricultural Policy of Trieste) expounded on “Sensory Analysis and Labelling”. Tullia Tedeschi, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Parma, talked about the “Identification of oil varieties by means of genome analysis”. Flavia Franconi’s speech (Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Sassari) focused on “The genetic regulation of oil”.
Olio Capitale pays homage to women: On 8 March (Women’s Day) the first 100 women to visit the fair will get one of the bottles of extra virgin oil which took part in the second Olio Capitale contest.

RESTAURANTS AND COOKS IN THE LIMELIGHT: Restaurants and cooks will play a decisive role in the fair. The Federation of Italian Cooks will give classes on how to cook using oil properly and 70 selected restaurants in the region will include in their menus a series of dishes prepared with the oil varieties presented at the fair. Olio Capitale has also arranged cooking sessions involving both Italian and Slovenian cooks. The 70 restaurants chosen by Olio Capitale will display the oil varieties presented at the fair together with a promotional kit related to the event.

OIL BAR: An “Oilbar” will be opened to the public, a real café consecrated to olive oil. Behind the counter visitors will find skilled testers belonging to the ONAOO (National Panel of Olive Oil Tasters), who will illustrate the features of the various kinds of oil as well as give recommendations on oil combinations.

THE OLIO CAPITALE CONTEST: The second Olio Capitale Contest is one of the highlights of the whole fair. The prestige of the contest organised by Luigi Caricato is confirmed by the growth experienced by the 70 businesses, both national and international, that took part in the first contest. As a matter of fact, this year the number of brands competing has risen to 113. The Olio Capitale Contest is the first in Italy to have two panels: a professional one made up of experts as well as another one made up of oil-consumers. Visitors can sign up to become part of the non-expert panel, after attending a brief tasting course.

TASTE-TOURS FROM THE SEASIDE TO THE CARSO PLATEAU:
The Province of Trieste has organised free excursions whereby visitors will get the chance to admire some of the most enchanting sights of the area, visit oil mills and attend tasting classes in the Olio Capitale pavilions.
The first trip to is scheduled for Saturday, 8 March. Visitors will first visit Muggia, a lovely fishermen’s town near the Italian borders. The trip will then continue at the San Dorligo della Valle oil mill, where the whole crushing process will be illustrated. After that, a tasting session will take place, at the end of which visitors will go back to the fair where they will be shown around the pavilions.
The second trip is scheduled for Sunday, 9 March. Visitors will visit the charming Grotta Gigante (Giant Cave), among the biggest in the world. The trip will continue at the San Dorligo della Valle oil mill and at the Parovel oil mill, after which visitors will go back to the fair.
If you would like to sign up, please contact us on the following number: +39 348 7507866 or log on to our website: www.triestetour.it (email address: info@triestetour.it).

Seminars and Talk shows:
The fair will not only focus on economic relations: various seminars and talk shows will focus on the scientific aspects related to the olive oil sector, such as: “PDO-labelled Extra-Virgin Olive Oils”, “How to contain production costs” and “Oil and Beauty”. Another interesting theme will be “Olive Moths”, which have been causing much damage to harvests.

COOPS CONTIBUTE TO PROMOTING THE EVENT:
During fair time all the Coop supermarkets in the region will promote the fair by displaying illustrated material related to the event. In addition to that, Coop supermarkets will also grant a 30% discount on some oil brands.

“The objective of the fair is that of raising awareness about extra virgin olive oil and its features, as stated by Mr. Fulvio Bronzi, President of Fair Trieste Spa. Trieste is at the heart of Europe and it is therefore the perfect place to promote the oil sector. The fair will be an international showcase where the biggest oil producers in the world will get the opportunity to establish commercial relations and meet restaurateurs as well as visitors. La Fiera is working closely with the local institutions to promote the area.”


OPENING TIMES:
Olio capitale will be open to the public from Friday, 7 March to Monday, 10 March 10.00-19.00.
The timetable of the fair is available at www.oliocapitale.it
Over the last 15 years Friuli Venezia Giulia has witnessed a constant growth in oil production. Nowadays there are 1,000 olive growers producing 100 tons of olive oil. 70% of the overall produce is intended for the local market, the remaining 30% covers other markets. A sign of a developing business mentality is the growing number of olive growers who choose to sell their produce in bottles, with customized labels, instead of selling it from the cask.
Friuli Venezia Giulia's olive oil produce went from being only 0,005% of national olive oil output last year to 0.05% this year.