I'm Elisabeth Gallardo and I am passionate about the olive oil world. We seek the highest quality in our products and we deliver them to your home. There isn’t a better reward for our work than being phoned to repeat an order or being congratulated for our olive oil quality.
My family has always been connected with the olive grove; UnOlivo began its journey in the early 20th century. In 1900 my great-grandfather Julio was a noted oil broker of Castillo de Locubín (in the Southern highlands of Jaén). He bought oil from the local producers and sold it in Motril’s port (Granada). He was known for his entrepreneurship, and he prospered thanks to his tenacity. With the Spanish civil war’s outbreak, this visionary had to leave his trade.
His fighter soul, his passion for olive oil and the respect for the earth’s products did not disappear. They arose again over 20 years ago through his grandson Julio Gallardo, my father. He followed his ancestors’ steps, taking it further and starting his own oil production. The effort finally paid and drove a new challenge, building and owning an olive mill, giving way to UnOlivo.
I remember harvesting with my family from a very young age on vacations and weekends, we had to go to the land! These were great days when rather than working we enjoyed eating from a “perol” (a large typical skillet where food was prepared for everyone), and had a great family day together.
Before UnOlivo, we already had an olive oil mill, but it was my initiative to create a brand, to sell our EVOO bottled instead of in bulk. I’ve been in charge of coordinating the entire process personally: building up the brand, creating the website, designing labels, catalogs… the entire UnOlivo project was born under my direction. It's like having a baby and watching its growth and maturity. This project evokes in me the same feelings, making us prouder every day of what we do and how we do it.
We take care of the olive grove throughout the whole year, collecting the olives for about two months in winter and sending bottled olive oil on any date. Thanks to that, my brother and I can employ several people from the town throughout the year, plus keeping our positions.
The legacy continues, and we will always make it progress! Apart from supporting my father in the original project, my brother and I aim for high quality organic olive oil: early harvest and premium. We commercialize our bottled olive oil both in the national and international markets.
The olive oil future for small producers like us is quite uncertain, with low prices as the main problem. The olive oil is under the farmer’s profitability threshold, and it is not profitable to take care of the olive grove and collect the olives. If prices remain the same, many farmers will have to give up. Also, the competition is strong since super-intensive plantations are proliferating, where the quality of the product is lower. They end up depleting the land, employ less people and need a lot of water and other products. Traditional olive grove farmers can’t compete against that.
Options like CrowdFarming are vital for small farmers, giving us visibility. Also for consumers it is interesting - you won't find anyone who cares and looks after the product so much as small and family-run businesses.