Mani Bläuel: certified fair olive oil from Greece

From the spring of 2014, the Naturland Fair logo on the labels of Mani Bläuel olive oils and olive products indicates to wholefood retailers and consumers alike the high ecological and fair quality of this Greek olive brand. For the Bläuel family of entrepreneurs, appreciation of people and nature underlies all their business practices. At Biofach 2014, the company Mani Bläuel presented its first “Naturland Fair” certified product. They supply the specialist wholefood trade with three olive oils, twelve different olive products and six mezes (Greek starters). The first olive products with the new fair certification  will be available from May/June. Turnover in the financial year 2012/2013 came to approximately €7m.

(Picture: The Bläuel family: Fritz and Burgi on the left, Felix and sister Julia on the right)

One of the functions of Naturland Fair is establishing a price paid to producers that not only covers their costs but also ensures their future viability. Regarding sourcing, Naturland Fair prescribes at least 80 % from regional production, and products are preferably to be bought from small farmers. In the case of Mani Bläuel the figure is 99 %. The company’s social involvement entails support for senior citizen homes and Greek SOS Children’s Villages in the form of donated food. The company devotes special attention to promoting the charitable organization GAIA –  the “guardian angel of the region” – with donations of goods and money. This privately financed organization, that Bläuel employees also support, has various initiatives to benefit the lives of people and the world of nature in the Mani region, including health facilities, maintaining the infrastructure, an emergency service and animal protection. (Picture: Olive harvest in Mani, combined with pruning)
 

The Naturland Fair criteria cover seven points: social responsibility (fair pay, freedom to hold meetings, human rights and no child labour), reliable trade relations, fair producer prices, sourcing raw materials locally, joint quality assurance, social commitment, corporate strategy and transparency.
 

In recent years, the company has created 40 family-friendly jobs, and all employees receive appropriate payment and are given flexible working hours and regular training. “We pay about a third more than the market rate,” says Felix Bläuel.

In the last 30 years, the Bläuel family has helped over 300 olive farmers to convert to organic. In 2014, around 20 of these families operate in compliance with the strict Naturland eco and fair guidelines. In total, they cultivate approximately 800 hectares of olive groves, of which about 500 are managed organically. They harvest roughly 250 tonnes of edible olives and other olives that produce around 700 tonnes of olive oil, of which half is organic. Only 1 % of production can be sold on the Greek domestic market, and 99 % goes to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Canada, Russia, China, Japan, England, Netherlands and some other countries. (Picture: Olives being selected by hand)
 

Mani-Sonnenlink: Greece’s first certified  Bio-Hotel   Pure relaxation for the body, mind and spirit – that’s what holiday makers find in the bio-guesthouse and veggie hotel of the Bläuel family. In the classic style of the region, it nestles on the sunny side of the Taygetos coastal mountains on the Mani peninsular. The three bungalows and three apartments plus the seminar room in the “Sun House” are designed according to Feng Shui principles and offer both privacy and conviviality.  The founder of the hotel and charming host is Burgi Bläuel from Austria. She spoils her guests with organic and vegetarian cuisine that uses regional products and their own Mani Bläuel organic olive products. Guests can also opt for self-catering, because all the bungalows and apartments have their own kitchen. The opportunities for relaxation range from swimming in the deep-blue sea to hiking and cave tours or just lounging in the Sonnenlink garden. If it’s culture you want, you can visit the ancient excavations and old churches in the region. Music by Burgi Bläuel, who plays the violin, and her husband Fritz, on the piano, or concerts by musicians of all kinds are presented in their family’s own open-air theatre to delight their guests. The Bläuels’ Bio-Hotel is only an hour away from the airport at Kalamata. For information go to: www.mani-sonnenlink.com

“Not everybody has to get caught up in the poverty spiral,” said Fritz Bläuel at a press event during BioFach 2014. Together with specialists, Fritz and son Felix Bläuel, who share the management of the company, talked about their motivation for adding the Naturland Fair qualification to some of their Mani Bläuel olive brand products from the spring of 2014. Steffen Reese, the managing director of the Naturland organic association, said it was a matter of emphasising the special achievements of firms. Franz-Theo Gottwald from the Schweisfurth Foundation explained that stipulating a comprehensive, holistic and ethically correct approach called for more than writing on the label "lovingly produced" or "fair production", which was why certification made sense. Lukas Nossol, the son of the owner of Dennree, Thomas Greim, hopes that the EU Organic Regulation will in future prescribe fair trade for everyone. He said that you could already differentiate between the products of yesterday and those of tomorrow with the help of fair certification. For Manon Haccius from the biggest organic retailer in Germany, Alnatura, credible examples like those of the Bläuel family were very important. However, claims had to be examined and confirmed by an independent body such as an association. Ellen Schmidt from the Consumer Service Bavaria in Bamberg stressed the importance of transparency. Clear criteria and details on the packaging had to make everything transparent for the consumer. 

(Pictures: Olives being carefully harvested and sorted. Bottling the oil)  
 

Back to production: In the mountainous Mani region in the south of the middle finger of the Greek Peloponnese, the conditions for growing the predominant Koroneiki olive variety, that produces one of the best oils in the world, are ideal – a high level of light intensity and long hours of sunshine, not much rain and stony, mineral-rich soil. In November and December, the olives are picked by hand – laborious but without damaging the olives – or with simple hand-operated equipment. During the night following the harvesting, the oil is extracted from the olives in 15 oil mills in Mani. All Mani Bläuel oils are in the highest extra virgin olive oil class. But the standard of the Bläuels’ oils exceeds even this quality grade. Only olive oils with acidity below 0.4 % (the legal requirement is below 0.8%) are accepted and bottled. Thanks to storing for 12 months, the peroxide value, that reflects the freshness of the oils, is 10 - 12 mg/kg (legal requirement: not higher than 20 mg/kg). The Mani Bläuel product range in the specialist organic trade consists of 21 products that include a variety of olive products, Greek “meze” appetizers and olive oils. (Picture: Map of Greece with the Mani region)

Tip:
www.mani-blaeuel.de
http://www.naturland.de/fairzertifizierung.html