For a World Earth Day more committed than ever 

Beyond words, promises, and greenwashing, Earth Day is celebrated with deeds. With real actions and commitments that demonstrate awareness and generate a positive impact for our planet. Because we know that the future is sustainable, or there will be no future. And Fontclara knows this very well: that's why it's a pioneering project in sustainability. 

Nuri Torrent, director of Fontclara, reveals in a brief interview the company's commitment to caring for the land, a commitment that goes far beyond producing organic, locally sourced extra virgin olive oil. 

What is your connection and commitment to the territory? 

Our connection and commitment to the land is absolute. We understand that to achieve our goal of producing the finest olive oil, we must take the utmost care of our crops, and this extends to our land. Year after year, we are improving our cultivation techniques, minimizing intervention in the fields and maximizing environmental improvements.

What does producing organic oil mean for you and for nature? 

For us, there is no other way than to produce oil within a sustainable and ecological framework. Furthermore, we take many more steps than required by organic regulations to improve our crops, our soil, and our environment. This is reflected in the final product, and we also see it reflected in the consumers and everyone who visits us and participates in the project.

Do you carry out activities to care for the land and vegetation in the area? 

Yes, absolutely. For a long time now, we've focused on caring for the land, improving its fertility and biodiversity. All our farms have a perennial plant cover that helps minimize erosion and loss of organic matter, increases biodiversity, helps with soil compaction problems, and so on. And we use organic fertilizers of animal and plant origin to enrich the soil. 

We also maintain all the margins of the farms to enhance the existing biodiversity of the surrounding area. We have fruit trees interspersed with our olive groves to minimize the effects of monoculture and improve the environmental conditions of the farms.

What other projects or initiatives do you collaborate on to promote caring for the planet?

We are working on a project to calculate atmospheric carbon on our farms through our perennial plant cover, which is collecting atmospheric carbon, CO₂, and incorporating it into the soil, in order to contribute to mitigating climate change.

For several years now, we have installed subsurface irrigation, which allows us to save up to 40% of water compared to conventional drip irrigation, minimizing consumption. We are also in the process of converting to become energy sustainable by harnessing solar power. We are currently at 90% efficiency, and all our farms are irrigated with solar energy.

How do you see yourselves in the future? Would you like to make new commitments?

Yes, we are constantly thinking about what options and challenges we can set for ourselves in order to be pioneers in the production of top quality olive oil and to be a model of business sustainability.