Pedro Gomez de Baeza, formerly a University of Pennsylvania student started paying attention to the price discrepancy in grocery stores of olive oil back in the early eighties. Back then, it was $10 for Italian olive oil and about half that for Spanish olive oil.
A decade later, he worked with his family-owned estate, La Amarilla in the town of Ronda in southern Andalusia to start the olive oil production process, by revitalizing the property’s soil.
He teamed up with agricultural experts and developed a network of 56 organic olive farmers and cooperatives across five Andalusian provinces. A useful stat: only 3% of Spain’s groves grow organic olives but the small amount accounts for 25% of organic olive groves worldwide.
Maximiliano Arteaga, olive oil expert, has created olive oili that has hints of apple and almond from the sweet arbequina olive, which bears a resemblance to avocados.
They’re focused on agro-tourism, designing an almazara, which offers tastings and background knowledge on olive oil production as well as the history of Andalusia, where the rocky soil produces 80% of Spain’s olive oil.
Repurposed/printed from a Hemispheres article June 2011.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
