Introduction

Farmers in the olive tree farming industry primarily grow olives for industries that make use of olives for the production of cooking oil and cosmetic oil, the leaves for medicines, and the wood for strong and reliable wooden furniture.

The Olive Tree Farming industry displays a low level of concentration. The industry is highly fragmented; no single olive tree farmer/farm holds a lion share of the available market share in the industry. Olive trees farmers are typically niche farmers operating on a small farm land with no more than a few hundred trees.  Olive growers make use of the nine registered olive mills to press their olives, and then most of the olive oil is sold through informal supply channels systems.

The Olive Tree Farming Industry is indeed a very large industry and pretty much thriving in all parts of the world especially in countries such as Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia and the United States of America.

Statistics from the Department of Agriculture of Malta states that Malta and Gozo have around 47,000 olive trees and the total olive oil produced in 2020 amounted to 60 tons.  Most of the olive groves are run by family members and do not employ any farm hands.

Going forward, the Olive Tree Farming industry is projected to show stronger signs of growth, especially as new entrants join the farming community through the acquisition of small parcels of land and then the owners decide to plant olive trees.  Malta, being in the Mediterranean, offers the best climatic conditions for olive growing and hence new entrants are inclined to invest in this sector as they know that the trees have a long and productive life-time.

Olive Oil Association is a membership based organisation that will be based in Malta and Gozo. We have put plans in place to help us launch the Association as an education and research organisation and enter into cooperation projects with our partners around the Mediterranean.

Olive Oil Association is well positioned to become one of the leading olive oil education and research organisations  in Malta. We have put strategies in place that will help us employ best practices when it comes to education and research about olive tree farming and extra virgin olive oil production.

Olive Oil Association membership base will be  citizens living in Malta and Gozo having attained the age of 16 years of age. The membership fee shall be 5 euros annually.  The Association will be financed by the members of the Association, public funds, EU funds and income generated through the Association’s activities.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

The Founding Members of the Olive Oil Association were:  Jimmy Magro, Rene Borg, Salvu Borg, Carmen Spiteri and Roderick Desira.  The Management Committee was re-constituted and formed as follows;  Rene Borg, Salvu Borg, Carmen Spiteri, Roderick Desira, Anna Pisani, Joe Mallia and Ivan Fsadni.

When the Olive Oil Association was officilly recognized by the OCVO on 20th November, 2023, with registration number 2467, the Management Committee started preparations to hold the first Official Annual General Meeting.  The meeting was held on the 22nd February, 2024.  During the meeting, the following persons were elected to the Management Committee:

Dr. Ivan Fsadni, Messrs:  Joseph Mallia, Carmen Spiteri, Roderick Desira, Paul Attard, Anna Pisani and Felix Mifsud.

During the first Committee Meeting the following appointments were made:

Chairperson:                               Dr. Ivan Fsadni

Secretary:                                   Joseph Mallia

Treasurer:                                    Carmen Spiteri

Members:                                     Roderick Desira, Paul Attard, Anna Pisani and Felix Mifsud.

Executive Director:                     Jimmy Magro

Dr. Ivan Fsadni

Chairperson

Joseph Mallia

Secretary

Carmen Spiteri

Treasurer

Anna Pisani

Member

Roderick Desira

Member

Paul Attard

Member

Felix Mifsud

Member

Jimmy Magro

Executive Director