Development of high quality extra virgin olive oils competitiveness through a multiproduct box and narrative label
The proposal consists in the creation of an innovative package that contains three different Campania olive oils. In particular, The extra virgin olive oil n.1 is designed for cooked meals; the n.2 is designed for raw food preparations; the n. 3, the one with the highest quality, is one certified Campania PDO. The first two oils will be developed throughout the project, through the implementation of a blend of Campanian products in order to also enhance standard quality products. This information will be communicated to consumers through a narrative label present both on the bottles and both on the packaging.
The proposal consists in the design and implementation of a new product concept which, in an innovative package, contains 3 different olive oils from Campania which are characterized by high health and sensorial quality.
The project is divided into 4 Work Packages:
WP1 concerns the characterization and definition of olive oil profiles;
WP2 concerns the construction of the BOXNARRANTE concept;
WP3 concerns economic sustainability and the value chain;
WP4 concerns the dissemination of results of the project among stakeholders and consumers.
Campania is an important olive growing region with a surface area of around 70,000 Ha which corresponds to around 43.4% of the Campania area for agricultural orchards and 7% of the national area.
Currently the Campania olive sector is characterized by 5 Protected Designation of Origin: Terre Aurunche PDO, Sorrento Peninsula PDO, Irpinia PDO, Colline Salernitane PDO and Cilento PDO, but few companies are registered in the lists of denominations. This is mainly due to the market difficulties encountered by Campania farms due to a poor organization of international promotion and a poor popularity of the local product. Furthermore, the lack of knowledge by the Italian consumer about the sensorial and health characteristics of these high quality olive oils, the higher price of PDO products, the lack of differentiation upon the culinary use, make it difficult to increase market shares of PDO olive oils.
In this context, the project proposal aims to educate the final consumer to differentiated uses of several olive oils and to inform on how to recognize high quality oils by the sensory characteristics, and how to valorize them in their final use.
The strategic objectives that the project will pursue are: the creation of two new blends of extra virgin olive oils from Campania characterized by high quality, health and chemical characteristics; the design of an innovative package suitable for the sale of the product either in modern distribution, either in traditional and specialty shops; the creation of a concept composed of eco-sustainable products and packaging; the development of a new method to transfer information to consumers regarding the different qualities of extra virgin olive oil, the use of products with different specifications and the link between the taste of extra virgin olive oil and its nutritional value.
