Olive Day

Olive growing: a choice for the future? Between illusions, opportunities, or opportunism.

The Olive Day at SITEVI 2025 has one clear goal: to respond to the current enthusiasm with reliable guidance and informed decisions.

Olive growing has a future in France, but it is essential to make informed choices and keep costs under control: selecting the right varieties, understanding the market, and managing production costs are key. Strong agronomic knowledge and an organised sector exist, ready to support new projects. Gaining information, sharing experiences, and anticipating challenges are essential to avoid unstructured development.

Olive Day: Reflections and perspectives

The olive-growing technical day, held on Tuesday 25 November, aims to provide clear guidance to build the future of the sector on solid, realistic, and shared foundations, taking into account economic realities, consumer expectations, and sustainability challenges. At a turning point, the French olive sector must combine tradition and modernity to address economic, climatic, and regulatory challenges.

Thanks to the commitment of its stakeholders and the support of France Olive, it has the opportunity to strengthen its identity and position in the markets, while preserving the richness of its terroirs and the excellence of its products.

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Explore the events calendar for SITEVI 2025

France Olive at the heart of the french sector

France Olive, the French interprofessional olive association, was created in 1999 to serve first the olive oil and later the table olive sectors. It is the olive division of the national oilseeds and protein crops interprofessional body (TerresUnivia).

Recognised by the French State, it is a private organisation that brings together all stakeholders in the French olive sector (producers, cooperatives, millers, olive oil packers, table olive processors, and nurseries). As a forum for discussion and decision-making, France Olive supports the industry to foster the development of French olive growing and promote its products more widely.

Its main missions are:

production and processing techniques,
economy and regulation,
as well as communication and promotion of the sector.

Programme

Morning – Laying the agronomic foundations of a viable olive-growing project

9:30 - 9:50am: Opening Conference – Olive Day: "Why talk about olive growing today?" Context, new farm installations, land pressure, diversification after the wine industry crisis.
9:50 - 10:50am: Workshop – “How to succeed with hedge plantation!”
11:00 - 12:15am: CONFERENCE – “After planting, how to adapt technical practices to your production context” – Agronomy Department of France Olive
12:15 - 12:45am: Open discussion with the audience

Afternoon – Market, testimonials, reflections and perspectives

2:00 - 2:45pm: “The French olive oil market: realities, opportunities and limits” – Alexandra Paris, France Olive – Global olive oil market, focus on national production vs consumption, PDO market specifics, niche vs volume, quality/price segmentation.
2:45 - 3:45pm: “What does it cost to produce olive oil in France?” – Eugénie Coutagne, France Olive – Results of the cost-of-production study for traditional and hedge systems.
4:00pm: Round table: “Producing olive oil – for which markets?” – Perspectives from producers and distributors.
5:00pm: Closing session: “Starting out in olive growing: industry challenges and collective responsibilities” – France Olive – Wrap-up of the day.

Olive oil masterclasses

France Olive will host olive oil tasting sessions at the exhibition. Programme includes:

Introduction to tasting French olive oils, exploring the three flavour families
French olive oils with PDO status
New French olive oil productions
Olive oil: ripened olives vs fully ripe olives – what’s the difference?
Blind tasting
Discovering French olive oils: uniqueness and diversity

Discover the full range of fruit and olive-growing sectors represented at SITEVI 2025.