Interviews

Manuel Caeiro da Silva Brito, 83, started working as an olive grower 63 years ago.

From his perspective, things have changed a lot: "Olive growing today is very different from what it was in my day. The olives used to be picked by hand, one by one, and nowadays they're picked with a vibrator."

He believes that the best way to evaluate olive oil is "by tasting it, there's no other way but to taste it," he says. He also considers that "the technical means are not in the hands of the normal consumer, which can lead to a great deal of confusion." In his time, "there was only one oil". He recalls that "an oil with 1 degree of acidity used to be an exceptional oil and today an oil with 1 degree is no good! Look at the evolution!" he concludes.

Despite this, he likes to taste olive oil "in a glass and with a bit of apple", in other words, with all the technical precepts.

In terms of what sets the Cooperativa de Moura e Barrancos apart, as an olive oil producer he says that "olive growing and olive growers are different, they are nothing like the others. He also says that "the traditional varieties and, consequently, the PDO Azeite de Moura are the most important thing when it comes to distinguishing the Cooperative's olive oil."

About his mark on the history of the Cooperative, he says: "I was Director of the Cooperative in 1991, when no one wanted to take on that responsibility. I asked the General Assembly for permission to form a list and with Joaquim Matado and João Costa we took over the Board. We were left without a manager and inherited a debt of 400,000 "contos". I went to a bank in Serpa to ask for money because we no longer had credit in Moura, but they asked for our wives' signatures. You were very nice, but that's all it took! In the meantime, we were received by the Ministry of the Economy, which granted the Cooperative significant financial support.

We hired a new manager and went around talking to the farmers and members who had left the Cooperative, telling them to believe in us, that we would pay them well for their olives and that they should come back.

We made a good team and managed to save the Cooperative!"