Regional Institute of Wine and Oil

Marcello Caruso, extraordinary commissioner of Irvos

Optimization of resources, marketing, DOC Sicilia and oil. These are the priorities on which the extraordinary commissioner of IRVOS, Marcello Caruso, will work immediately. 'body".

Fewer economic resources available and the general crisis that dominates will certainly make it more difficult to achieve some objectives but Caruso does not despair: “It will certainly be necessary to make careful choices, giving space to some opportunities and rightly leaving out others – comments Caruso – but I found a situation with good foundations and therefore, I hope, it won't be difficult to continue along this already clear path." And from this perspective, what the extraordinary commissioner hopes for is direct collaboration with the producers of the wine sector and beyond: "Given the public financial resources which are becoming increasingly smaller - explains Caruso - a greater relationship with the "actors" of the sector can only lead to targeted and effective choices, avoiding waste and instead aiming to achieve concrete objectives". Among the latter there is that of focusing on the image of Sicily abroad, a positive image of quality which consequently leads to economic implications: "The Regional Institute of Wines and Oils of Sicily represents the island abroad, aiming therefore I believe it is one of the inevitable and necessary steps towards emerging markets. In recent years, moreover, the organization has invested a lot in this through incoming events, meetings with the foreign press, participation in important fairs and competitions". However, not only exports are in the program of the extraordinary commissioner, but also a "watchful eye on Sicilian wine products. – he declares – The new DOC Sicilia, strongly supported by the producers themselves, came into force in January and the institute is the certifying body. Therefore front line controls to guarantee both the consumer and the image of our land externally". And if progress has been made in the wine sector, "now the challenge is to achieve the same objectives in the olive sector. Even oil, like wine, constitutes one of the main resources of our island which brings with them a historical and cultural baggage of no small importance. We need to focus concretely on this aspect and on the creation of a collaboration network with the producers themselves – concludes Caruso – as well as working to spread the culture of good oil”.