Olive oil factory “Subashi” is one of the largest extra virgin olive oil processing and producing enterprises in the country. The factory uses harvested olives from the olive trees in the groves around the area of Marikaj, Tirana, a renowned area for growing centennial olive trees.
Over the past few years, the company managers have increased investment in technology aligning it to standards with similar olive oil factories in European countries. At the same time, the production capacity has increased along with the number of employees thanks to the business stimulus packages adapted by the government. The olive oil factory is seeking to enhance its range of products and boost its exports.
The company’s manager explained the work process in the production line that has accelerated thanks to the new technology, increasing at the same time consumer safety and protecting the environment. “We are processing olive oil for third parties today. Farmers have brought loads of olive and receive oil. The storage and processing premises work separately as a legal and standard obligation. The factory has employed high tech machineries, while physical and mechanical mill equipment is used for crushing the harvested olives. We have installed latest technology stainless steel machines. The production process is completely a closed process and the technology is environmentally friendly. Meanwhile zero oxidation takes place during the process,” she said.
The company managers say they feel protected from unfair competition, which was caused due to the lower cost of non-paying electricity producers. “There were normalized factories that did not pay for light, lowered costs and were always dishonest competitors in some way against us.” “A number of factories operated avoiding electricity bills and therefore they had lower production cost and were somehow dishonest competitors against us.”
The factory has also expanded the range of products. It now produces spicy olive oil combined with medicinal and aromatic herbs, as well as olive-based cosmetic products. “Our concept is not just to produce olive oil, but give it a bit more value. We explored production opportunities of other olive oil-based products. We now produce a range of spicy olive oil. We also offer olive leaves and olive wood for the kitchen. These products can serve as souvenirs. This factory also produces olive oil-based soap,” factory’s manager said.
The entrepreneurs say the olive groves in the area are a true asset in terms of the olive tree varieties and age. The main olive variety growing in the area is the Kaliniot variety, known for its high nutritional values and anti-cancer properties. “Since we couldn’t visit the olive groove, I would like to show you oldest olive tree there, which is believed to be over 2000-years-old. Very old olive trees are also to be found in the area surrounding the village of Surrel. Tirana is surrounded by a dense canopy of over 300 000 olive trees over 1 000 years old. We want these trees to be protected as monuments of nature of extraordinary value.”
Entrepreneurs, among other things, asked the Prime Minister for the government support to improve the infrastructure around the cultural and religious sites as tourist destinations. “Mr. Prime Minister, I want to make a request. This area is home to one of the oldest churches. The church has not been included on the list of cultural monuments and it is not accessible since no road has been built in the area. Developing this infrastructure would help development of tourism in the area. Marikaj has been included in the 100 Villages Programme.”
Prime Minister Rama said that Marikaj has been selected by the government as one of the 100 villages that will have their infrastructure upgraded in a bid to make them agribusiness oriented by promoting local agriculture products.
“That’s why we are here today and that’s why this area is also part of the 100 Villages programme on integrated development of rural areas, because Marikaj contains elements that meet the selection criteria, not only in terms of the locally-produced products, but also in terms of the cultural and historical heritage. Meanwhile, we will also develop a special digitize register of the oldest olive trees so that no one dares to cut them,” PM Rama said.
