“Establishment of the ‘List Oil Price’ Committee at the Fujia Chamber of Commerce”. This is the request that sent, jointly, through an official memorandum, the provincial refusal of the three main trade union organizations of farmers to Damiano Gelsomino, president of Ccia Foggia. In the official letter, Confagricoltura, Coldiretti and Cia Agricoltori Italiani explained that it would be “a fair recognition of the olive-growing companies of the Capitanata area”, for their “excellent work” and the results achieved. Moreover, the establishment of an oil price commission could promote the product – extra virgin olive oil – which has acquired exceptional importance in the province of Foggia in terms of quality and quantity.
At the end of the previous olive-growing campaign, 177,407 tons of oil were produced in Puglia in 2021: 18,962 in the Foggia region, 67,865 in Bari, 58,878 in Bate, 21,511 in the Brindisi region, 3,415 in the province of Lecce and 6,775 in that Taranto.
Olive cultivation is the most widespread in the region and includes 148,127 businesses. By companies we mean those who are registered in the Commercial Register of Chambers of Commerce and unregistered and who do not carry out the activity with a VAT number but who are registered by Istat and/or beneficiaries of PAC assistance. Moreover, there are 939 oil mills operating in Puglia: Foggia has 136, Bari 228, Lecce 251, Brindisi 143, Taranto 97 and Pate 84.
Digital production cycles, a high rate of innovation, a first and significant generational change in corporate management with a greater tendency to preserve added value, and above all thanks to a more concentrated attention to marketing, packaging and foreign markets that strive for total quality: these are the characteristics that have made, for several years, Capitanata olive sector is growing.
The olive producers’ associations, thanks to the support and initiative of the farmers’ trade union organizations, have also managed to increase the propensity of companies for collective action and grouping. “For all these reasons, we believe that the establishment of an oil price committee at the Foggia Chamber of Commerce is very useful and desirable. The joint statement of the peasant trade union organizations concludes.