DCOOP certifies the first olive oil production in Europe under the demanding standard Sustainably Grown®

The Sustainably Grown® certificate allows a common requirement for agricultural production in terms of environmental management, social responsability and ethics, economical sustainability and corporate integrity. DCOOP Group, together with its cooperatives, has been implementing its sustainability strategy for some years now and all its work and dedication to this, the base of DCOOP and Pompeian’s culture, has gained recognition thanks to this certification.

A large variety of departments in DCOOP have worked together to obtain this certification, such as agricultural technical department, quality and environment, sustainability, communications, legal and human resources. This team has coordinated, supported and verified internally the implementation of this demanding sustainability standard in 9 farms until finally, they have reached the sustainable crop certification for their olive oils.

DCOOP Group has overcome a strict audit by SCS Global Services to achieve this aim. SCS Global Services is a recognised and independent entity that grants reliability and clarity to the certified activities. As a result, the members of SCA Los Tajos de Alhama de Granada, SCA Olivarera La Purísima de Archidona, De Prado, SCA Agrícola Madre del Sol de Adamuz, SCA El Rocío de Dos Hermanas, SCA Olivarera Nª Sª Del Valle de Santaella, Olivarera Ntra. Sra. de Araceli de Lucena, Oleoalgaidas Villanueva de Algaidas, and SCA Agrícola Purísima Concepción de Alameda can confirm that they are the first producers of olive oil in Europe produced in a certified sustainable crop.

Being part of this sustainability standard, DCOOP, Pompeian and their farmers are contributing to reduce the climate effect changes in the olive oil sector, which also allows to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

DCOOP’s goal is to keep implementing the standard in the rest of its cooperatives, at a rate of 15 or 20 cooperatives per year, reaching a hundred by 2029.

Strategic alliance with Pompeian

The alliance between DCOOP and Pompeian, which started in 2015, has allowed both companies to be part of the leading commercialization of olive oil. DCOOP exports an average of more than 30.000 tons to the USA, which has permitted the reinforcement of this Spanish product in the American market, and Pompeian, being the first label in the USA, permits, through the Sustainably Grown certification, the promotion and expansion of the sustainable practices in the whole olive oil sector.

Committed to sustainable practices around the world and due to its legacy and tradition, Pompeian has developed a support program for all of its suppliers to implement these sustainable standards and plans to extend the Sustainably Grown® certification to all farmers by 2030.

The multianual plan aims to achieve that 50 % of Pompeian’s agricultural exploitations obtain the Sustainably Grown® certification in 2026.

As a company owned by farmers that has been running for almost a century, Pompeian is committed to sustainable agricultural practices and is working on obtaining the Sustainably Grown® certification in all its suppliers for 2030.