The sector’s perspective 75 recognised in the most demanding international competitions. And it is important to highlight who the true pillars of this quality are: the good cooperatives and producers with their own mills who have made excellence a deliberate choice. The cooperatives of Trás-os-Montes play an absolutely central role in this sector. It is they who bring together thousands of small olive growers, who ensure the marketing of the produce, who invest in equipment and quality processes, and who keep communities alive that would otherwise be threatened by depopulation. Without the cooperatives, traditional olive growing in Trás-osMontes would be demographically unsustainable. Alongside the cooperatives, there is a growing number of producers with their own mills who consciously prioritise quality over quantity. These are facilities that operate at controlled temperatures, practising cold extraction to preserve the polyphenols, aromas and nutritional properties of extra virgin olive oil. They monitor the olives’ ripeness, minimise the time between harvest and pressing, and invest in sensory analysis and rigorous certification. In this regard, Acushla was a pioneer: our mill was the first in Trás-osMontes to achieve FSSC 22000 certification in food safety, the sector’s most stringent international standard. The result is a product with superior organoleptic characteristics, extremely low acidity and a sensory profile that represents the very best this region has to offer the world. The challenges we cannot avoid Climate change is already having a visible impact on the olive groves of Trás-os-Montes. Erratic rainfall, increasingly intense summers and growing pressure from pests demand constant adaptation, which comes at a real cost. International trade instability, with US tariff pressures and growing Spanish competitiveness in markets such as Brazil – where Portugal historically held a dominant position – is placing added pressure on producers who are already operating on tight margins. And then there is the collective challenge that concerns me most: the lack of a strong, organised common voice. Portugal still lacks an interprofessional olive oil organisation with the investment and profile of its Spanish counterpart, which allocates around 8 million euros annually to the coordinated promotion of its olive oil. Until that happens, Portuguese producers – and those from Trás-os-Montes in particular – will continue to compete in a fragmented manner in a global market that values scale and consistency in communication. We need a national umbrella brand that showcases the best of what we do, without diluting the regional identities that are our greatest source of differentiation. The direction I consider necessary and urgent The medium- to long-term sustainability of this sector requires clarity about who we are and what we want to be. For Trás-os-Montes, the path lies in consistent differentiation: certified quality, PDO – Protected Designation of Origin, indigenous varieties, cold pressing, organic or integrated production, full traceability and a genuine story of origin. It is this positioning that justifies the price, builds loyalty among discerning consumers and makes this region resilient in the face of global competition. This means that the market must learn to recognise and pay a fair price for this distinction. It requires clear communication to domestic and international consumers about what distinguishes a Transmontano PDO olive oil – produced in traditional olive groves and cold-pressed – from a standard olive oil. It requires distributors, leading restaurants and specialist retailers to play their part in promoting the value of its origin. It also implies public policies that recognise the territorial and environmental value of the traditional Trás-os-Montes olive grove, not only as a producer of olive oil, but as a guardian of biodiversity, landscape, culture and population in areas that need concrete reasons to remain inhabited and active. Acushla is, for me, proof that this path is possible and viable. But what I genuinely hope for is for this
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