Development of olive growing in Aude: Oil'live Green launches its first olive harvest in Berriac

Accompanied by the new olive grower Sébastien Balmigère, Yannick Masmondet, general manager of Oil'live Green, was very proud and satisfied this Thursday as he watched the harvesting machine harvest the first olives for the company he created. For three years, with financial partners whom he was able to convince, he has worked tirelessly to set up this ambitious olive growing development project in the south west of the country. “In France, we produce 5,000 tonnes of olives while consumption is around 130,000 tonnes through oil. There is, for sure, a place to be taken with the help of farmers looking for solutions,” he predicts.

Ambitious goals

The first plantings were carried out in November last year and, to date, there are 450 hectares. The objectives are ambitious with the prospect of planting 1,000 hectares in 2025 in several departments of Nouvelle Aquitaine and Occitanie. In Aude, around 60 hectares have already been planted, including this two-hectare plot in Berriac, the first to enter production.

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The general manager explains: “Usually, it takes three years for a first harvest. Here, we benefited from the withdrawal of a Spanish customer to receive older and larger plants.” Spain is in fact the main producer of plants with Morocco. The varieties use less water and are particularly well adapted to the drought that has been affecting our region for several years.

A site in Beragne envisaged

On this point, the business manager specifies: “These varieties of olives need 600 mm of water per year while in Carcassonnais, for example, the rainfall was 545 mm over a full year. Despite the current lack of water, we are at the limit of being able to produce these olives without irrigation. The logical continuation will be the construction of a first mill in Carcassonne by 2027. “This Thursday morning, in the presence of the president of Carcassonne Agglo, Régis Banquet, we tackled this project which should cost around 7 million euros with an establishment on five hectares including reception, mill for a production of 3,000 hectares equivalent, and storage unit The Béragne site is envisaged”, announces Yannick Masmondet.