Arbequine: the Queen of the Aragonese hills

Now that the olive harvest is taking place in northern Spain and the first olives of the season are being milled, it is the best time to speak about the Arbequine variety.

This renowned early and tiny variety of olive is the preference among the virgin olive oil gourmets. It is not in vain that many of them refers to the arbequine juice as the Beluga of the olive oils.

 

Since not every olive juice is the same, we encourage you to check the critical factors that boost this wonderful elixir to the gastronomic Olympus:

1. The best flavour, aroma and palete possible. It has a very  pleasant round taste, boasting a fresh fruity sweetness rounded with a distinctive bitterness. In mouth it feels silky and it leaves an intense long finish. It usually displays a nose of ripe fruit and almond.  It is just delicious when eaten raw over a crunchy slice of toasted bread.

2. It is popular for its green tones, especially when the olives are harvested at the earliest stages of maturation.

3. The arbequine oil is characterized by the inestability of its chemical compositition. Since this variety is more sensitive to oxidation, the fragile balance of its sensory attributes demands proper conservation conditions. Fresh and dark environments increase the product lifetime.   .

4. The growing region. The above said, the arbequine variety displays different sensory features depending on the type of soil and climate conditions associated to the place we find the plant. Arbequine trees require cold and continental climate in order to perform at their best. The vally of the Ebro (Aragon, where Lady Godina is situated) meets naturally these requirements so we can find traditional arbequine crops that need less use of chemicals.  

5. Here in the heart of Aragon, the tradicional cultivation system is the most widespread. For centuries, when the agriculture mechanisation and the artificial irrigation did not exist, the ancient groves followed a low density plantation pattern  (between 80 and 120 trees per ha.) that still remain the same nowadays.  

6. Although traditional cultivation does not allow high production rates, arbequine olive stands out among others for its high fat yield. Once the milling process is done,  we obtaing small but excellent product.

7. In the same way as wine, it is sometimes interesting mixing different varieties of oil - such as Picual or Empeltre among others -  in order to obtain a coupage of more complexity.  

Aragon, a great place to make bussiness in the agrifood sector

Lady Godina comes from La Almunia de Doña Godina (10.000 inhabitants), a small but beautiful and full of life town in the heart of Aragon. 

Apart from the outstandind cherries and extra virgin olive oil produced in our homeland, La Almunia is a slow city that might surprise you for hosting a University Center (EUPLA), where more than 40.000 students have completed their degree on Engineering throughout its 40 year history. 

Or you may find intersting that La Almunia is just 20 minutes drive away from PLA ZA (Zaragoza) , the largest logistics platform in Europe, with a 13.000.000m2 area that benefits from its intermodal transport connections (railways, roads, and air routes).

In sum, the mix of product,  location and innovative aproach is the key for our competitive strenght. As this video states: Aragón, come and connect!

http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwRQiNGgo4

9 Keys for a better understanding of the Black Truffle

1. The scientific name for this highly regarded-gourmet delicacy is Tuber Melanosporum but it is also known as the Perigord Truffle and many people refer to it as the kitchen black diamond.

Source: http://www.cestaysetas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Tuber_melanosporum.5.jpg

2. Properly speaking, the black truffle is the edible fruiting body of an underground ascomycete fungus.  As these fungi cannot produce enough organic material on their own, they must live in association with a host plant. They show predilection for growing close to the roots of oak, holm oak and hazel trees.

Source: http://www.agrimundo.cl/wp-content/uploads/121119_boletin_agregados_trufas_n3-corregido-listo-para-despacho1.pdf

They also require very precise wheater conditions - enough cold and precipitations -  along with certain types of soil at a specific altitude range.  These are the reasons why this elusive wonder is mainly found in the southwest mediterranean Europe [1]. 

3. Although traditional gathering methods still remain the same, wild truffle today has almost been replaced by modern truffle farming.

 

Source: http://cultivosforestales.com/blog-setas/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/plantacion-de-encinas-con-trfa.jpg

 
However, there are no oficial records nor reliable data that allow us to quantify exactly the amount of cultivated production. Both producers and gatherers tend to underestimate their business figures.


4. Most of the harvested truffle comes from Spain, France and Italy. In view of the experts, the global production is about 100 tn. 

5. Destroying the myth. Contrary to the popular belief, Spain is the world´s leading grower of black truffle. Our country provides around 40% of the total crop. At the same time, Aragon -the region where Lady Godina comes from- contributes with two thirds of the aggregated Spanish harvest.

 

The small aragonese town of Sarrion -in the province of Teruel- is considered to be the capital of the black truffle and hosts the most relevant fair of this sector in Spain: Fitruf

6. Mora de Rubielos, Graus and Morella. These three small towns fix the price of the Spanish black truffle through their local markets. Sellers and buyers comes to an agree in a very traditional way as the supply and demand law is strictly followed.

The imbalance of these measures - the supply represents only 10% of the demand -  plus with the negative impact of the climate change[2] result in a relatively high price per kilogram around -500 €/kg on average-.

That said, the French black truffle is around 40% more expensive than the Spanish. Every year a significant amount of the Spanish production is imported by French and Italian brokers who trade with it. 

7. This is a seasonal and short life-time product. The gathering time takes place from november 15^th to march 15^th.

It should be noticed that, when not processed, fresh truffle gradually loses its properties within a 10-day window. Furthermore, a recent survey conducted by scientists of the University of Zaragoza (Aragon)  underline that, once defrosted, black truffle loses its aroma within just 24 hours[3].

8. The organoleptic features of the truffle are directly connected to the bacteria living on its surface, as a new piece of work suggests[4]. Since each type of soil is inhabitated by a diverse population of bacteria, verifying the origin of the truffle is vital to ensure the expected quality. 

9. Beware if you don´t want to be ripped-off. Other medium and even non-existent culinary value truffle varieties can also be found in the markets.   Regarding the first ones, Tuber Brumale (winter truffle) and Tuber Aestivum (summer truffle) are of fairly good quality too so they fetch high prices as well. Anyway, they cannot be compared to the genuine black diamond. 

Tuber Brumale. Source: http://www.delbosquealacocina.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=41&Itemid=159

 

Tuber Aestivum. Source:  http://setas-hongos.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/tuber-aestivum-trufa-de-verano.html

By contrast,  cheap asian substitutes -practically without aroma- are distorting the markets and causing confusion among consumers. Chinese companies are selling their native fungi varieties like Tuber Indicum (chinese truffle) at a much lower range of prices -around 30€/kg-. 

Because of that it is really useful asking for technical advise during the buying process, as dishonest european dealers try to cheat their customers by mixing genuine with fake black truffles[5].

Tuber Indicum. Source: http://www.gourmetkerqus.com/cms/es/generic/tuber-indicum

If you are interested in purchasing fresh black truffle or need any other information, we will be pleased to advise you. You can contact us on our website: ladygodinatc.com 

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[1] http://www.micofora.com/index.asp?idioma=EN&opc=39&

[2] http://www.gastronomiaycia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Estudio_producion_trufa_negra.pdf

[3] http://www.diariodeteruel.es/noticia/57507/multiples-notas-armonizadas-marcan-el-aroma-de-la-trufa-negra

[4] https://trufflefarming.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/what-percentage-of-truffle-aroma-comes-from-bacteria/ 

[5] http://www.businessinsider.com.au/chinese-fakes-are-being-passed-off-as-the-real-thing-but-this-time-its-800kg-truffles-2014-3

Price War on food market leads Spain to deflation

What is deflation?

According to the INE (Spanish Statistical Office) the fresh food prices have been dropping for five consecutive months in Spain. The IMF defines deflation as a sustained decline in an aggregate measure such as the CPI for two consecutive semesters.  This sector has not been affected by this phenomenon so far but there is a growing concern as long as this section of items, being the most significant, represents around 20% of the spanish shopping basket.

Why is this happening?

The potencial customers have decreased due to the emigration and to the fact that former inmigrants are coming back to their countries. In view of the prolonged economic crisis and the lack of job opportunities, 400.000 people left Spain in 2013.

Meanwhile, the crops of vegetables and fruits last summer were outstanding in terms of quantity.  And to top it off, the Russian veto on the UE fruit has finally resulted in food surpluses in Spain.

The current setting

As a result, the main food retailers in Spain have begun a battle for market shares at the expense of trade margins. For instance, DIA, a major Spanish distribution company, has been able to increase its business volume from january to september, although its turnover fell 1,7% in comparison with the same period last year. [1]

Given this deflation context, some food industry sources suggest that the average fruit prices could fall to 4% at the end of 2014.[2]

http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2014/11/01/actualidad/1414861351_958953.html

In the long term this could translate into serious problems for the distribution sector that might be eventually temped to sell at prices lower than production costs. In this case, the Spanish fruit growers could be dragged to a difficult situation since they are the weakest link in the supply chain.

Find out more at our website!

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[1] http://www.freshplaza.es/article/85835/DIA-reduce-sus-ventas-en-Espa%C3%B1a

[2] http://cincodias.com/cincodias/2014/10/30/economia/1414691579_625559.html

United Kingdom: the solution to the Russian crisis?

According to the Agriculture Office of the Aragonese Government's estimations, the Russian veto on Spanish fruit products has caused losses amounting between 20 and 30 millions of euros in our region. 

Aragonese fruit exports to Rusia during the last seasons were being up to 110 millions of euros per year. Several areas in Aragon, such as Valdejalon, La Litera or Bajo Cinca, are being affected by this international crisis. 

By quantity peaches and nectarines are the most penalised varieties by these measure and therefore they are turning into higher economic losses. In the second place of this ranking we find apples and pears which production is also significant in Valdejalon.

Recently the Government of Aragon reported an official withdrawal request for 5 million kg made by the local fruit sector. Besides this sort of public compensations, the Aragonese Economic Office believes that a plan to tackle emerging or alternative markets must be drawn up as a long term answer for this issue.



Find out more at ladygodinatc.com

Works on Mularroya´s dam are still halted

Source: Heraldo de Aragón. http://www.heraldo.es/noticias/aragon/2014/08/30/mularroya_sigue_sin_fecha_para_retomar_las_obras_meses_despues_que_parasen_307336_300.html

After fifteen months the works on Mularroya's dam in La Almunia de Doña Godina are not expected to restart.  In 2013 the Spanish High Court nullified the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) resulting in the stop of  this infrastructure although jobs had began in march 2008 and one third of the total budget (51 millions of euros) has already been spent.

As new building technical report and EIS are both mandatory, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment must include corrective measures into these documents. Although experts are drawing up an alternative project in accordance with the Court's resolution, for the time being official sources are unable to make an accurate prediction on when the dump trucks and bulldozers will return to work.

Mularroya will have capacity for 103 hm³ of water entirely coming from the Jalón river, which is the main tributary of the Ebro river on its right side (the largest Spanish river as well). The dam is being built nearby La Almunia urban area on the Grío riverbed and it is still needed to dig an 8 miles tunnel in order to channel the river Jalón water.

The greatest use of this reservoir will be the irrigation of the fruit crops in the surrounding area of La Almunia and Valdejalón county. The Jalón River Irrigation Community  (Central de Usuarios del Río Jalón) assures that this dam is crucial for investors who want to grow up with guarantees in the coming years. The flow control of the Jalón River through Mularroya´s dike will allow a further expansion to our already significant stone fruit sector.

Fruit growers demand stronger support from the government after the Russian veto on horticulture

Source: Heraldo de Aragón. www.heraldo.es

Fruit growers demonstrated last monday in La Almunia de Doña Godina ( the largest town of one of  the main areas for fruit production in the north of Spain) against the russian veto on horticulture products and they also showed their concern about the insufficient messures offered by the local administration.

UAGA, the biggest union of growers in the area, pointed out  "an increasing feeling of collapse in stone fruit market" and warned that many of their members had already decided not to collect their pending production.

This organisation claimed a general withdrawal in order to push the EU markets to accept their position.Shock measures must go further than fight for stone fruit sector affected by russian veto, "a prices control policy must be clearly perceived by every factor in food chain, specially by great distribution companies".

Find out more about La Almunia at ladygodinatc.com