50 years ago, talking about “designation of origin” was no easy feat, as there were barely any of them in the food sector, in either the Spanish state or Europe, with one or two exceptions in the world of wine. Neither were there, of course, any designations of origin for olive oil, a product which many authors and experts qualify as practically magic, full of history, culture and properties.
Despite the fact that the Iberian Peninsula, and especially Catalonia, has been a land of oil since the Phoenicians landed on our coasts over 3000 years ago, and that, as of today, the Spanish state is the main olive oil producer, the food sector failed to possess any designations of origin until the creation of PDO Les Garrigues, over four decades ago.
Protected Designation of Origin Les Garrigues offered consumers an extra virgin Arbequina olive oil with its own personality which has become one of the best in the world.
But how did the need arise to create a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for the olive oil produced in Les Garrigues?
Undoubtedly, the creation of Spain’s first PDO would be incomprehensible without considering the experience already accumulated by many cooperatives in the region at that time, some with over 50 or 60 years of history. Many of these cooperatives were already eager to find a way to promote the area’s olive oil and its quality.
These cooperative producers foresaw that consumers would need a quality and origin seal to distinguish their oil, which was already highly valued in other markets, such as Italy. Les Garrigues olive oil couldn’t simply be a product sought after and purchased by foreign distributors; it was also necessary to work on its marketing, and creating a seal that certified the oil’s origin and quality seemed like a crucial first step.
This opened a path that only a few wine producers had begun to explore, and which would give rise to the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Les Garrigues.
In this privileged setting, 50 years ago, the Garrigues PDO quality and origin certification seal was created, guaranteeing the quality of its Arbequina extra virgin olive oil. Fifty years of awareness from producers ahead of their time and from a region that broke the mold to offer an increasingly competitive product that has been among the best olive oils in the world for over a third of a century.
