CSQA certified Zucchi sustainable extra virgin olive oil

Zucchi Sustainable Extra Virgin Olive Oil is 'Product of the Year 2018'.
The sharing of values such as safety, transparency and ethics won over an attentive jury of consumers who rewarded the pioneering and avant-garde project of the Cremona-based company: Zucchi Sustainable 100% Italian extra virgin olive oil is, in fact, the first to come from a CSQA certified sustainable supply chain , which guarantees a transparent path from field to table, respecting the environment and combining flavor and well-being.

Elected Product of the Year is the Innovation Award based exclusively on the votes of over 12,000 consumers over the age of 15, through a survey conducted by the independent research institute IRI, according to the two fundamental criteria of Innovation and Satisfaction.

The certifiable voluntary standard DTP 125 Sustainable Extra Virgin Olive Oil was born from the collaboration between CSQA and the stakeholders of the olive oil supply chain. The standard is the first and only one at national level which has defined requirements, good practices and indicators aimed at objectively measuring and demonstrating the sustainability of extra virgin olive oil.

CSQA has developed, with the involvement of all the players in the supply chain who have contributed to its definition, over 150 requirements that each individual component of the supply chain must satisfy in order for the oil produced to obtain the Sustainability Certification, with checks from the agricultural phase to packaging.

There are four pillars at the basis of the Sustainability Certification:

• Environmental : integrated production agriculture, life cycle, environmental impact, biodiversity.
• Social : respect for workers and the community, fight against illegal hiring, training.
• Economical : fair price, generation and distribution of wealth, profitability, efficiency.
• Nutritional : to bring to the table an oil with specific product, nutritional and health parameters.

“ Conversation with stakeholders was fundamental for the development of this standard which was the first to introduce the nutritional asset as a pillar of sustainability subject to certification - declares Maria Chiara Ferrarese, deputy director of CSQA . It is a great honor for us to have worked in synergy with all the players in such an important supply chain for Italian Made in Italy. We are convinced that this sharing and certification experience also represents an opportunity for other Italian supply chains that feel the need to improve their positioning on the issue of sustainability ”.

The innovative certification was strongly desired by Oleificio Zucchi – as the company promoting the project and the first certified company – which involved Legambiente as well as the olive producer organizations Aipo, Cno – Consorzio Nazionale Olivicolo, Confoliva, Unapol, Unaprol and Unasco .