Interoliva
Expertise
Olive Specialist
Internacional Olivarera, S.A. (INTEROLIVA) is one of Sevilla’s biggest private olive companies, Andalusia (Spain), operating since 1898. Their first shipment to the USA market took place in the early 1910s when olives placed in wooden barrels were loaded in Sevilla’s river port.
With 95% international sales, they offer complete programs for retail, foodservice, and food industry in different packaging and under private label if requested. The facilities are BRC certified. They export 95% of their production to international markets such as the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, China, Japan, etc.
We had a great discussion with the Sales Representative of Interoliva Alberto Rey, who participated in the Wabel Grocery Summit 2020.
How has Covid19 impacted your company and your strategy?
Due to Covid, we have to implement additional measures, especially in terms of our production plan. Our colleagues in charge of production are working close to each other to manage all the raw materials, so we had to set stringent measures.
So far, we manage to keep our production and quality of service at the same level as before; hence, fortunately, we have not been significantly affected by Covid, but still, there was an impact, and we had to adapt ourselves due to travel restrictions and inability to see clients physically.
However, all the digital technologies we have, and Wabel Online meetings, is a perfect solution to avoid the negative impact of Covid on our business, or at least to make it not that dramatic.
Do you see any shift in buyers’ expectations?
Not really. Buyers don’t think it is the right moment to look for innovative products because consumers are mainly looking for standard products, not new ones.
We have observed that the buyers are asking for the same products as before.
We were already moving to more natural and organic products, and buyers keep asking mostly for this.
Why did you turn to Wabel this year?
Due to the Covid situation, we thought that we definitely needed some additional meetings, and we saw Wabel as an opportunity to expand our network of buyers.
Since we saw that Wabel works with a vast range of buyers worldwide, we thought it would be exciting for us to participate.
The matchmaking was perfect; we could meet very interesting buyers who match our targets.
How did you like your meetings and the matchmaking Wabel did for you?
The meetings went pretty well, the conversations went very fluid, and there was a real interest from the buyers. We really hope we can do some business together.
