Small growers to get incentives - The Florence provincial government, the Chamber of Commerce and the Banca del Chianti Fiorentino are working together to provide incentives to small growers in order for them to obtain protected quality denominations DOP Chianti Classico and DOP Colline di Firenze.
"While it does have significant quality characteristics, olive oil produced in the Florence area has proven to be limited in terms of competition," explained provincial agriculture superintendent Pietro Roselli, "both for the rigid cost structure in production and for the difficulty in development and commercialisation of the product".
Among the proposed measures are: assistance in obtaining quality certification by providing financial support for laboratory costs, incentives for a shorter supply chain (direct sales, pamphlet publicity, support for farmer s markets) and increasing the quality of the product by contributing 50% of the cost of containers made for long term conservation that allow the olive oil to maintain its freshness and original quality.
Roselli commented: "These initiatives are made to encourage small producers not to produce the same type of olive oil made in other parts of the Mediterranean and to increase their DOP and IGP standings. We would like to see small growers take a step forward with regard to quality".
