IOC and QVEXTRA!
Feb. 17, 2024
QVEXTRA! RECEIVES AN IOC GRANT TO PROMOTE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF EVOOS
The association will organise two conferences on the product’s nutrition and health labelling
On Wednesday 14 February, QvExtra! President, Soledad Serrano, and Herminia Millán, General Manager, met with IOC Executive Director, Jaime Lillo, to sign a multiannual grant agreement within the framework of the IOC’s promotional grants scheme. QvExtra! is an international association dedicated to promoting high-quality extra virgin olive oils (EVOO). Among their activities is the organisation of the 2nd and 3d Conference on Nutrition and Health Labelling of EVOOs in the European Union in 2024 and 2025, respectively, for which they will channel the IOC’s multiannual grants. On the occasion of their visit to the IOC’s headquarters, QvExtra! representatives and the IOC’s Executive Director discussed about a series of issues concerning the olive oil sector, particularly the importance of enhancing consumer knowledge regarding EVOO quality and the need to encourage a comprehensible labelling scheme for EVOOs that highlights the product’s undeniable health benefits. The sustainability of the olive oil sector, across all of its axes, was also among the topics of conversation, as were the IOC’s efforts to harmonise international trade standards concerning olive oil.
QvExtra! is an international association established in 2013 by Spanish olive oil producers who seek to promote and disseminate the multiple benefits of high-quality EVOOs.
From the local point of view, this news item proves how the Olive Growers Cooperative Limited was correct to establish the Olive Oil Association, in order to provide education to consumers about the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil. In fact, QVESTRA! is an NGO established by the olive oil producers in Spain; same case in Malta when the Cooperative took the initiative to establish the Olive Oil Association but faced strong resistance from the Commissioner for the Voluntary Sector.
It is to be noted that in order to apply for these grants from the IOC, the Olive Oil Association, has to provide financial records for the preceeding two years and therefore the Association shall only be able to apply for these grants in 2026. These grants are only available to civil organisations (associations).
