Ginés Donaire I Jaén, (EFE).- The olive oil sector is not going through its best moments and the drought and bad harvests have worsened the income statement of olive growers. A situation that the ITEA company, leader in automation and digitization of agri-food companies, wants to reverse, with its innovative GIA ITEA 4.0 comprehensive oil mill management system.
“This innovative system is like the heart of the mill. Well, it allows you to connect the entire production process, from the olives that come from the field to the final packaging. There is a guarantee of traceability and automatic control that affects the quality of the EVOO”, Rafael Bascón, CEO of the ITEA group, told EFE.
The initiative has been presented at the I GIA ITEA 4.0 Congress, in Picualia, in Bailén (Jaén). A training day that has brought together some 300 teachers, operators and mill managers. And where information and experiences about the sector have been shared.
GIA ITEA 4.0 combines hardware and software to guarantee full control, data by data, of the oil mill. State-of-the-art technology to guarantee maximum profitability, sustainability, traceability and quality in all olive oil extraction, production, storage and packaging processes.
A unique system
“A unique system that allows comprehensive management, savings and traceability of all oil mill processes”, highlights the CEO of ITEA. A firm born in Montilla (Córdoba) and that celebrates 25 years of experience at the foot of the field. Believing and creating the future in the olive oil sector, providing value and solutions in automation and digitization to the oil industry.
A commitment to agro-industrial innovation that materializes in a market share close to 80% of the oil mill sector. Reaching in 2022 a turnover of more than 9 million euros, which rises to 16 million for the entire business group.
The I GIA 4.0 Congress. ITEA has chosen the facilities of Picualia as the meeting point. For being the mill that best symbolizes the technological revolution undertaken in the olive oil sector in recent years. “It is an international benchmark”, highlighted the mayor of Bailén, Luis Mariano Camacho, during the opening ceremony.
In addition to agri-food, ITEA’s activity covers multiple sectors such as energy, hydraulics, aggregates and quarries, pharmaceuticals or telecommunications. Also noteworthy is its commitment to renewable energy, especially photovoltaic solar installations, as well as the installation of charging points for electric vehicles throughout the Spanish geography.
Innovation, at the origin of ITE
According to Rafael Bascón, “innovation has been the company’s reason for being and doing from its origins”. And the constant investment in R+D+i is undoubtedly one of the keys that explain ITEA’s privileged position at the forefront of the sector.
Proof of this are the control card holders, the project for automatic control of water supply for continuous humidity regulation, the CDTI project and others in collaboration with the UCO and other universities.
This research project, together with others that ITEA is promoting, such as the continuous categorization of the fatty yield of the olive through non-destructive samples, new humidity sensors that optimize the depletion point of the decanters and a comprehensive traceability system , are part of what is already “the new normal” technology of the olive oil industry.EFE