The Diputación de Castellón is these days immersed in the promotion of the province’s oil among specialized prescribers to improve consumption and, thus, the opportunities that this excellent product generates in the territory. Thus, and as part of the ‘Days of EVOO and its harmonization with the products Castelló Ruta de Sabor’ that develops until mañanamiércoles 5 December in the CIPFP Costa de Azahar de Castelón, the Provincial Government is making known some native varieties that are unique in the world such as: Borriolenca, Canetera, Empeltre, Farga, Morruda and Serana de Espadán. This activity is carried out together with the Regulatory Council of the D.O. Aceite de la Comunitat Valenciana and is having a great acceptance by the sector.

The deputy of Rural Development, Pablo Roig, said that “this activity is aimed at generating new opportunities in our villages through the enhancement of a product that reaches the highest quality. With this work we claim that this land has in its gastronomic heritage one of the best arguments to attract visitors and generate wealth.

It should be noted that with this consolidated initiative the Provincial Council contributes to provide more than a hundred producers and catering professionals who will participate in these training sessions, a forum focused on sharing knowledge about the liquid gold of gastronomy, one of the star products of the province.

So much so that there are several experts who combine theoretical and practical sessions to “provide our producers with the best tools for marketing and exporting the oil from Castellón and promote its quality as the main differentiation strategy”.

With this objective, in addition to addressing various technical aspects on marketing and innovation in the promotion of oil, olive oil tourism or marketing in olive oil markets, culinary workshops are being held to harmonize EVOO with the products of ‘Castelló Ruta de Sabor’ and tastings where the organoleptic characteristics of local oils are analyzed.

Roig explained that “this training proposal arises from the need to continue supporting our producers, promoting training and providing tools to the sector to enhance the value of olive oil as a sign of identity and excellence of our province”.

In this line, Roig stressed that “all the activities we organize from the provincial institution for the promotion of the agri-food sector, also seek to raise awareness among the population of the importance of consuming local products, as a determining factor for the social and economic development of Castellón”.

Castelló Ruta de Sabor tourist product

At present, the Castelló Ruta de Sabor Provincial Council project has 20 olive oil producing companies from all over the province. In addition, 7 of them offer tourist experiences around olive oil and visits to their mills.

There are also three interpretation centers on the history and culture of oil in the province, attached to the Castelló Ruta de Sabor tourism product, in Cervera del Maestrat, Sant Mateu and Segorbe, and as many applications to join the project in its next call at the end of the year.