The Company - Today
The Masseria Santa Venia is located on a property of 320 hectares of which about 80 hectares are currently olive groves with the Favolosa cultivar (FS17) in Terra d'Otranto, Puglia, where the del Balzo family arrived from Provence in 1265.
The property dates back to the great-grandfather of Count Gennaro del Balzo since 1863.
Agricola Santa Venia is a vertically integrated company, in which all stages of production are carried out, whose brand today is witness of the Salento / Apulian tradition and food culture.
The olive harvest is carried out with efficient and specific harvesters in such a way that the fruits never touch the ground and adapted to the milling capacity, avoiding stops longer than 24 hours before processing, thus guaranteeing the production of excellent oil quality . Finally, after decantation and manual separation of the residues, the oil is stored in stainless steel tanks, where the free head space if filled with nitrogen to avoid the presence of oxygen that deteriorates the olive oil to preserve all the organoleptic characteristics.
We transform exclusively olives from our company, which we grind, practically in real time: the quantity of olives harvested from time to time is, in fact, correlated to the processing capacity of our plant. We take care of each of our trees from the moment of its transplant to irrigation, to pruning, even to the choice of the best technique for harvesting its fruits.
Agricola Santa Venia reserves 150 hectares of its land for the cultivation of products deriving from organic farming, certified in compliance with current regulations.
The Company and the Environment
The property has always been attentive to the environment and to climate change. For this reason, over 150 hectares are subjected to an organic regime and the remainder to "zero residue", in compliance with good agronomic practices. Our plants are all equipped with a drip irrigation system, some in sub-irrigation, and automated, aimed at saving water and therefore energy.
Automation also extends to ferti-irrigation which allows plants to be "nourished" without wasting fertilizers, supplying the necessary nutrients in the proximity of the plant.
The company is also planning to install a photovoltaic system in order to use only energy from renewable sources and be autonomous.
The company is "carbon neutral", our trees in fact absorb tons of CO2, contributing to the preservation of the planet.
The Plague of Salento
Xylella Fastidiosa
The rapid desiccation complex of the olive tree is a phytopathology that manifests itself in the desiccation of the leaves up to extending to the branches of the crown. This pathology is caused by a bacterial strain of Xylella Fastidiosa of the subspecies Pauca. The main vector is an insect called "mean spittlebug" (philaenus spumarius). It is believed that this insect arrived from Costa Rica, via Holland, on ornamental plants imported in the Gallipoli area.
In 2013, Xylella also arrived in our splendid olive grove, decimating centenarian plants, leaving behind bare land and many beautiful memories. After a long period of stagnation due in part to the hope of "phantasmagorical" cures and therefore healing, scientific tests, grafts, we tried them all, as well as the slowness of our authorities in authorizing the explants and the long announced subsidies, the authorization of pulling the trees, finally arrived to plant. Only two varieties are allowed to be transplanted: Favolosa cultivars (FS17), a selection of the Frantoio and Leccino, which are found to be resistant to the nefarious Xylella.
We never gave up!
In 2019 we are planting the first 10 hectares of Favolosa, with a sixth of 5 x 2.5, another 70 will follow. for a total of 80 ha and hopefully many more in the coming years.
The first fruits of the new olive grove arrive in October 2021, the organoleptic laboratory analyzes are good.
This oil is a symbol of resistance, perseverance and love for our land and our ancestors
Gallery
