International Olive Council

What International Olive Council does

The International Olive Council (IOC) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Madrid, Spain, established to administer the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives. It serves as the sole global authority on olive oil quality standards, authentication methods, and international trade frameworks, operating with member countries that participate in olive sector governance. The IOC is structured around three operational units — Standardisation and Research, Olive Growing/Olive Oil Technology/Environment, and Economic Affairs & Promotion — supplemented by dedicated programs such as the Olive Health Information System (OHIS) in partnership with the University of Navarra, the World Catalogue of Olive Varieties, and the annual Mario Solinas Quality Awards.

The IOC's product surface comprises institutional platforms rather than commercial offerings: a statistics dashboard for global olive oil economic data, the OHIS scientific publication system, the World Catalogue of Olive Varieties database, and key projects including the Carbon Balance sustainability initiative and World Olive Tree Day awareness campaign. The organization also runs academic and culinary partnerships — notably with the University of Jaén on a sustainability portal and the Culinary Institute of America on the Plant Forward Kitchen initiative — to extend its standards and health-research influence into adjacent institutional ecosystems.

The IOC's business model is membership-funded rather than commercial: member countries contribute to governance and operations, and the organization has no consumer-facing pricing, equity ownership, or traditional revenue mechanics. It is not venture-backed, PE-owned, or publicly traded, and operates under a multilateral treaty framework. Its customer base spans member country governments, olive oil producers and exporters requiring standards certification, and health researchers and consumers accessing its scientific content.

Name

International Olive Council

Legal name

International Olive Council

Website

https://internationaloliveoil.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The International Olive Council is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Madrid, Spain, that sets global standards for olive oil and table olives. It serves member country governments, olive oil producers/exporters, and health researchers through standards, research, and trade facilitation programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Trade Standards

NAICS

Regulation of Agricultural Marketing and Commodities (92614), Regulation, Licensing, and Inspection of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors (92615), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

International Standards, Norms & Technical Regulatory Bodies (BPADAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

International Standards Development & Standardization Bodies (BPADANAA), Certification Program Administration & Scheme Management (Standard Owners) (AFALACAC), Environmental, Climate & Sustainability Standards & Reporting Cooperation (BPADANAI)

Keywords

• Olive oil standards
• International trade
• Quality certification
• Table olives
• Intergovernmental cooperation

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The International Olive Council is an intergovernmental organisation that sets international standards for olive oil and table olives, operates quality certification frameworks and reference methods, maintains the World Catalogue of Olive Varieties, and publishes the Olive Health Information System. It coordinates trade facilitation among member countries through standards-setting, research, statistical dissemination, and the annual Mario Solinas Quality Award.

Product overview

The International Olive Council (IOC) operates as an intergovernmental organization with a multi-module platform and service portfolio. Its core offerings include the IOC Statistics Dashboard for global economic data on olive oil and table olives, the Olive Health Information System (OHIS) developed with the University of Navarra for health research, and the World Catalogue of Olive Varieties for olive germplasm documentation. Supporting units cover standardisation and research (including the Mario Solinas Quality Award), olive growing and environment, and economic affairs and promotion. Key projects include the Carbon Balance Project and World Olive Tree Day. The organization also maintains educational content through its Olive World portal and operates a contracts, grants, and vacancies portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Olive Health Information System (OHIS): A platform dedicated to research on the health properties of olive oil and table olives, operated in collaboration with the University of Navarra.
• World Catalogue of Olive Varieties
• Mario Solinas Quality Award
• IOC Statistics Dashboard

Products and services

• IOC Statistics Dashboard Online platform providing access to global economic data, market statistics, and country profiles related to olive oil and table olives, featuring a dashboard interface for sector analysis.
• Olive Health Information System (OHIS) Research platform dedicated to scientific evidence on the health properties of olive oil and table olives, produced with the University of Navarra in multiple languages.
• World Catalogue of Olive Varieties Comprehensive online database cataloguing olive varieties worldwide, accessible through the IOC's key projects portal.
• Mario Solinas Quality Award Annual international quality competition that recognises excellence in extra virgin olive oils, coordinated by the IOC's Standardisation and Research Unit and associated with national competitions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 26th edition of the Mario Solinas Quality Awards held in 2026

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• University of NavarracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with the IOC on the Olive Health Information System (OHIS), a platform dedicated to research on health properties of olive oil and table olives. The university and IOC jointly publish weekly scientific articles and research summaries in English, French, and Spanish.
• University of JaéncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with the IOC and the Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Olivar y Aceites de Oliva on a sustainability portal for the olive sector, featuring research, tools, and knowledge supporting sustainable olive growing and responsible production practices.
• Culinary Institute of AmericaflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration on 'Plant Forward Kitchen' initiative to promote healthy, sustainable and flavourful food choices. The program focuses on technical training and menu innovation for chefs, inspired by the Mediterranean Diet and the role of olive oil.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV): The OIV is the closest structural twin to the IOC: an intergovernmental body of member states that sets international standards, classifies varieties, and coordinates research and promotion for a single agricultural commodity (wine vs. olive oil). Operates a similar standards-and-research mandate and member-contribution funding model.
• International Grains Council: The IGC is an intergovernmental commodity organization that administers international grain trade agreements, monitors market conditions, and publishes economic/statistical analyses for member governments—directly analogous to the IOC's olive oil trade and statistics mandate.
• International Coffee Organization: The ICO is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization bringing together coffee-exporting and importing countries to address quality standards, statistics, and sustainability—mirroring the IOC's structure, member-contribution model, and standards-plus-trade brief.
• International Dairy Federation (IDF/FIL): The IDF is a membership-based international standards-setter for the dairy sector covering methods of analysis, quality standards, and scientific guidance—closely paralleling IOC's Standardisation and Research Unit and its quality award programme.

Broad incumbents

• Codex Alimentarius Commission (FAO/WHO): Codex is the broader United Nations food-standards body under which olive oil standards (CODEX STAN 33) sit; the IOC's standards are more specialized and sector-specific, but Codex operates at the wider multilateral level that complements or competes with IOC's trade-relevant norms.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): FAO's intergovernmental remit on agriculture, commodity statistics, and food standards overlaps significantly with IOC activities; IOC often partners with or contributes to FAO programmes while focusing exclusively on olives.
• European Food Safety Authority (EFSA): EFSA is a broader regional food-safety authority whose scientific opinions and standards often complement or intersect with IOC guidance, particularly on olive oil authenticity, contaminants, and health claims.
• UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization): UNIDO runs standards-and-quality infrastructure programmes for developing economies, including agribusiness value chains where olive oil plays a role, making it an adjacent intergovernmental actor with comparable capacity-building tools.

Emerging players

• World Cocoa Foundation: A sectoral commodity sustainability/standards convener that, like the IOC, blends research, sustainability metrics, and stakeholder coordination around a single tropical commodity—with a much heavier private-sector membership mix than the IOC.

Others

• International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM): ICMM is an industry-focused international body that convenes members, sets sustainability standards, and publishes research—structurally analogous to the IOC's commodity-sector model, though operating on private-sector membership rather than intergovernmental treaty.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/iocolivenews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-olive-council

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Olive Council