- The Allotarra association was created about twenty years ago by organic olive producers in Estella. “Since then, more members have been joining the association and we have gradually been placing more olive trees,” explains Eusebio Gaintza. Currently there are about 60 hectares of olive groves among ten members. They mainly work with the variety arroniz and are aimed at the conservation and dissemination of this variety. For six years, the oil mill has also been operating in Dicastillo. “We had to bring the olives to other mills in the area to make the oil and finally decided that making our facilities was a good opportunity.” Although the main production is olives, they also produce barley, peas, truffles and others.
The Biosasun project, closely linked to the Allotarra association, has an oil mill in the lands of Dicastillo, to which the olives are sold for processing. “Before we were to the Monte de Arróniz oil mill, but there they do not work in ecological. Then came the small Ekolo mill, in which we also participated,” says the producer. Eventually, the team decided to create their own oil mill after several studies on olive oil. “Our mill is very special because it produces oil with high amounts of polyphenol,” he explains.
But what is polyphenol? It is a natural antioxidant that protects lipids from oxidation in the blood. They produce little oil in the Dicastillo mill compared to the area, but they seek to gain quality by putting an eye on the polyphenols. In addition to oil, they have also promoted other innovative oil-derived products, such as kefir and combo. “We created the Birbizi project to take advantage of the surplus almazara: we extract the dry bone from the olives and the olive water.” Broken bones are used as fodder for cattle, while these probiotics are produced with olive water.
Organic shop in Allo
The work of the Allotarra association is not limited to the production of olives, as since 2019 the organic products store is also underway in Allo. They sell food from nearby producers and in addition to the possibility of buying on site, they also offer the possibility to do so via the web. “At Lizarraldea we sell peppers, asparagus, vegetables… of everything, but also organic products that are not here and that we bring from further away: txakoli, oranges…”.
Four people are currently working on the Allotarra project. Gaintza explains that it is up to them to do everything: research, agricultural work and attention in trade. “For the future we have more projects in hand. For example, we are in contact with truffle producers to start producing special associated products,” he said.