Interviews

Cristina Navas Garcia Salgueiro

Cristina Navas Garcia Salgueiro, 46, has been growing olives for around 10 years. However, the family has been dedicated to olive production for as long as they can remember, a dedication that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Despite this, Cristina says that neither she nor her siblings have any kind of training in agriculture: "My father, perhaps because he was a farmer and agronomist by profession, never tried to instill in us any kind of taste for olive growing, or to impose that our future lay in it."

With each of the brothers having pursued different interests, in 2010 circumstances combined to lead them to present their father with a proposal to continue the family's ancestral dedication to the olive grove.

Regardless of catering being her profession and first passion, it was always Cristina who went to university with her father. "I love the countryside, the freedom it gives us and watching our crops grow," he says.

"The land we inherit will one day be passed on to our children. It's an asset that's not ours."

In his opinion, what sets the Cooperative's olive oil apart from others is "its emotional, sentimental and social value. As well as belonging to several cooperators, it's an oil that promotes our region and our local economy. Our olive oil is what characterizes us. It's a product of excellence, it's historic and Moura is synonymous with olive oil."

"Our olive oil, from our cooperative, from our olive growers, from the people who care for the land with love and care is what best represents us!"

In his opinion, the best way to taste olive oil is on toast. "I use Virgem for cooking, Seleção for salads and DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil for toast," he says.

Asked about the future, she says she hopes that in 15 years' time the company will be in a stable situation, never ceasing to invest and modernize, assuming its position as a major olive oil producer, always with the cooperative at its side. "The cooperative is us, the members!"

He believes that there is already an awakening to the importance of using olive oil in cooking, and that this is reflected in the fact that schools are becoming increasingly sensitive to the use of olive oil, as they follow the haute cuisine approach.

He points out that, in his opinion, it is in restaurants that olive oil is advertised, and that this is the way for the customer to go and buy from the shelf.

"For 15 years now, customers in my restaurants have appreciated the difference of frying potatoes in virgin olive oil," he says.

In this sense, he stresses that our emigrants are already in their second and third generations, as are the families who moved from the Alentejo to the big cities. "The emotional connection to this product, which has always been strong, is beginning to be lost, and the best way to maintain and strengthen it is to have our olive oil in places that make people talk about it," he concludes.

"Word of mouth is the best salesman!"

He also notes that competition and investment in marketing are increasing in this sector, and that if nothing is done we will be left behind. Anyone who doesn't know the product has to try it, and a whole new generation is starting to cook at home.

"Whenever I go to a restaurant, I ask for Olive Oil from the Cooperative and if they tell me they don't have it, it makes my heart squeeze. It's at those times that I'm very tempted to always carry a bottle of Seleção in my bag!"