Il Circolo

We are a small company with the goal to change the olive oil market and make the production of excellent olive oil exploitation free. The Problem For many farmers it is not worthwhile to produce good olive oil. Even at a low cost and without harming nature, most of the olive growers can barely survive. In fact, the average olive farmer is exploited economically, right among us here in Europe. Is it surprising that olive farmers end up in a poverty trap and illegal employment, that their children flee to the north, and that olive groves are neglected and go up in flames? Exploitation? How come? Unfortunately, it is difficult for the consumer to distinguish really good from bad extra virgin olive oil. Such a market can end up in a downward spiral where suppliers of better quality are being displaced by cheap and adulterated goods.(In 2001, George Akerlof received the Nobel Prize for this insight.) The victims of this downward spiral are ultimately those who care for the centuries-old olive trees and have to live off them. il circolo's path to exploitation free olive oil Fortunately, there are ways out of the downward spiral. il circolo has set itself the goal of ending the exploitation in the olive oil market, together with your help. How do we want to achieve that? il circolo sees itself as a “social enterprise” and wants to change the olive oil business from within. We have a bold roadmap that shows us the way to high quality olive oil without exploiting people or nature. Does this actually work? Is all this possible in the real world? Well, we admit that “our” roadmap already exists in a similar way … and is very successfully used against another downward spiral: in chocolate and in the fight against the exploitation of children on cocoa plantations. Join the circle We don’t want to be alone. Together we can make all olive oil worldwide exploitation free. We support every exploitation free oil, no matter where it comes from. See on our website what to do.