Aleesha Hansel
ORGANIC producer Finca La Torre, in Bobadilla, near Antequera has produced the ‘best extra virgin oil’ for the fifth time in six years.
Awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture, the prestigious Food Awards of Spain recognises the incredible quality of the oil, which is sold abroad in 25 countries, including South Korea, Australia and the Middle East.
The Swiss-owned company, which owns 380 hectares of olive trees, has seen its turnover triple over the past three years.
Sales have gone from €400,000 in 2014 to €950,000 in 2017, with the company estimating it will turnover €1.2 million in 2018.
The success of the oil is put down to local agronomist Víctor Pérez, who uses only the very best oil from the estate’s 33,000 trees, which include Hojiblanca, Arbequina, Cornicabra and Picudo varities.
The estate sits on the site of a 2,000 year old Roman olive farm between the two natural parks of Torcal and Fuente de Piedra.
And this finca is situated on one of the most dry places of Andalucia, which means a lot of water consumption.
But this Swiss Finca has another advantage. It hosts its own AVE highspeed train station called ‘Antequera Santa Ana’, which should not be confused with ‘Antequera mainstation’ which resides 20 km abroad.
The glass palace of Antequera Santa Ana looks like and is operated like an airport terminal, with baggage check but less than 50 passengers a day.