The Product and Territory Community
The Product and Territory Community “Dritta delle Terre Pescaresi” was born on the initiative of the Pleiadi Cutlural Association of Loreto Aprutino and is made up of a network of producers, expert technicians, processors, communicators, facilitators and other stakeholders. Thanks to the opportunity granted by the GAL Terre Pescaresi, there was a push to promote the area of the “Dritta” variety, one of the most important cultivars of the Aprutino-Pescarese PDO. The project includes information and training activities for potential customers, enthusiasts and local institutions. Educational activities are envisaged with the schools of the municipalities in the Dritta area of interest. To this end, an animated cartoon was produced by Director Nicola Ioppolo around the character of “Gemma la Dritta”. Articles were produced in local newspapers and there was narrative storytelling work around the payoff “i Dritti della Dritta”. A social engagement activity was carried out through the involvement of local micro-influencers. The competitions which have seen success for the oil mills and producers of the Pescaresi area have allowed them to be present in the local TV schedules (TvSei and Reteotto in particular) and on the regional RAI channel.
The Producers
The Network includes a particular partnership between producers, mills and the Aprutino-Pescarese DOP Consortium. In recent years the olive oil campaign has recorded important numbers both in terms of production and exports. Among the oil mills, the Frantoio Mercurius recorded important sales, particularly in Japan. The active collaboration between the DOP Consortium and the Chieti-Pescara Chamber of Commerce has made it possible to transmit positive messages to skeptical consumers. The project intends to focus heavily on food education through teaching in schools and the organization of taste workshops in the area, trying to convey important values linked to typicality, health and physical fitness. The associated producers do an excellent job respecting the principles of nutraceuticals and every year they are awarded in the various national exhibitions: Monovarietal oils, Gambero Rosso and Slow Food among the most important.
The Dritta Cultivar
Within the context, in which the olive tree stands out among the crops, the straight is king. Typical variety of the province of Pescara, widespread especially in the Vestina area up to the foothill territories located between the Majella and the Gran Sasso. The cultivation area is mainly represented by the municipalities of: Penne, Collecorvino, Loreto Aprutino, Moscufo, Pianella, Nocciano, Rosciano, Picciano, Elice, Città Sant’Angelo, Catignano. Here, in the middle hills of Abruzzo, the plant demonstrates its nomen omen, here it has rooted well while it would struggle to adapt to the low altitudes(suffers from cycloconium or Peacock’s Eye) and high due to low temperatures.This variety is characterized by particularly rapid fruiting, large and early fruits: the leaves are shiny dark green in colour, medium in size and have a slight curvature in the transverse direction. From an organoleptic point of view, it guarantees oils characterized by a medium/intense level of fruity, bitter and spicy, with a prevailing hint of fresh almond and light sensations of grass/leaf and artichoke. The high concentration of polyphenols gives nutraceutical properties.
Gemma la Dritta
CPT “Dritta from the Pescara Lands”
The headquarters of the CPT “Dritta delle Terre Pescaresi” is at the headquarters of the leader, Associazione Culturale Pleiadi, in Via della Monache n.4 in Loreto Aprutino. The “Terre Pescaresi” GAL has also granted the use of the “Terre dei Vestini” Gallery of Taste in the premises of the former Court of Penne in Largo San Giovanni Battista for the activities. The Galleria del Gusto is the third in Abruzzo after that of the “Province of Chieti” opened in Casoli (CH) in September 2008 and the “Terre Pescaresi” inaugurated in Manoppello (PE) in August 2015. The project was born in Abruzzo within of the local development plans promoted by the LAGs, to create knowledge centers on the culture of the territory and food. The Municipality of Penne accepted the invitation of the GAL Terre Pescaresi to create a space dedicated to food and wine and the territory in the city, inside a building of historical and architectural value. The intervention was financed by the GAL Terre Pescaresi within its Local Development Plan, PSR Abruzzo 2007-2013, with the co-financing of European Community Funds EAFRD.
“The weather cooling down and the sea rippling. Everything tells me that winter has come for me andthat I must, without delay, harvest my olives andsuffer the virgin oil at the altar of the good God.”
Frédéric Mistral