Behind every bottle of extra virgin olive oil are decisions that almost no one sees: how it's planted, when it's harvested, the temperature at which it's processed in the mill, and how the product travels to its destination. Origen Pons was created to tell these stories.
It's the new PONS podcast, produced by our own team and without a commercial script. In each episode, we address a specific part of our production model, with real data from a farm and a mill that have been producing extra virgin olive oil for four generations in the heart of Lleida, since 1945.
Episode 1: "From Field to Bottle"
In the first episode, we talk with Eduard Pons, CEO of PONS and fourth generation of the family, about one of the most used and misused terms in the sector: vertical integration.
Many brands that buy olives from third parties, or oil directly from the market, present themselves as vertically integrated. In this episode, we explain what the term truly means and why authentic vertical integration begins in the field, not in the mill.
Some of the topics discussed:
- Oil is made in the field. The mill can only preserve the quality brought by the olive, never create it. Decisions regarding planting, varieties, pruning, and irrigation are what define the profile of the final oil.
- The 26-degree rule. This is our working temperature from harvest to in-line filtering. Each mechanical phase of the mill incorporates cooling elements to compensate for the temperature generated by friction and maintain that threshold from beginning to end.
- Microlots and zero kilometer. We harvest in lots of a maximum of 5 tons, with our own covered transport. The furthest farm is 12 kilometers from the mill: no olive takes more than 30 minutes to arrive from the tree.
- Traceability to destination. Control doesn't end with the bottle. We export to over 100 countries, and in the most distant markets, the oil travels in refrigerated containers to preserve the temperature chain until it reaches the consumer's table.
- Tips for the consumer. Eduard closes the episode with practical criteria for choosing a good oil: pure origin, own farm, identified variety, and a proven operator, versus the multitude of labels of doubtful origin that populate the market today.
Where to listen
The first episode of Origen Pons is now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
We will be publishing new episodes about varieties, harvest, production, and everything that happens between the olive tree and your table. Follow us so you don't miss any.