Towards a Trust-Based, Decentralized Quality Network
As Key experts entrusted with the mission of launching the first innovative olive oil cluster association in the region of Berat, and being involved in the development of the BERAT olive oil initiative, we unanimously recognize the strong potential that has emerged during Phase 1 of the project. At the same time, Phase 1 has clearly demonstrated that the project’s success now depends on a strategic shift: from infrastructure-led solutions toward a quality-driven, trust-based, and decentralized organizational model.
1. Phase 1 Results: Potential Identified, Quality as the Binding Constraint
Phase 1 has shown that:
- The Berat olive oil system has sufficient productive and milling capacity to sustain a structured quality pathway.
- Local milling factories, as mapped by our report, already constitute a dense, territorially embedded network with technical capabilities and entrepreneurial commitment.
- Producers’ willingness to engage depends not on infrastructure promises, but on credible, operational quality guarantees and on trust in existing local actors.
The main constraint is therefore not physical capacity, but the absence of a shared quality protocol, governance rules, and trusted “custodianship” of the product once it is produced.
2. Why a Centralized Storage Facility Is Not the Right Solution at This Stage
The option of creating a new, centralized storage infrastructure, managed or financed by public actors or donors, would be:
- Inefficient, given the existence of underutilized and adaptable facilities;
- Cost-intensive, diverting scarce resources from quality upgrading, protocols, and skills;
- Institutionally counterproductive, as it would weaken — rather than strengthen — the trust relationship between producers and mills.
Most critically, such a solution would break the trust bond that is essential at this early, fragile stage of association building. Trust is not a secondary variable: it is the core asset of this funding phase. Experience from comparable sectors and countries shows that producers often behave strategically: common facilities tend to be used primarily for lower-quality or residual production, while higher-value output is managed independently. In this sense, a centralized investment may inadvertently create incentives that dilute quality differentiation and compress value creation.
3. A Decentralized Network of Qualified Mills as the Strategic Backbone
A primary objective is to minimize logistical handling and transport of the finished product, as reduced movements are essential to preserving oil quality and integrity.
We therefore strongly recommend advancing Phase 2 along the lines of a decentralized network of storage and processing facilities, built upon:
- Existing milling factories, selected and accredited by the association;
- Targeted investments to regenerate and upgrade premises (temperature-controlled tanks, hygienic storage, traceability tools);
- A shared quality protocol, binding for all participating mills and producers;
- Entrustment of oil storage to accredited mills, under clear contractual and governance rules.
In this model, mills act as territorial hubs of quality, not merely as service providers. They become custodians of the product, the protocol, and the reputation of the emerging Berat oil identity.
4. Quality Governance and Trust Are Indivisible
The introduction of a formal protocol for quality compliance, monitored by the association, must go hand in hand with:
- Trust in existing mills as operational partners;
- A gradual, inclusive approach to membership;
- Clear incentives for compliance rather than old-fashioned centralization that risks also to counter strategies of quality differentiation and market segments’ plurality approach.
Quality cannot be imposed through infrastructure alone. It emerges from shared rules, repeated interactions, and credible local intermediaries.
This approach also embeds the concept of territorial quality, linking the valorisation of olive oil production with broader tourism and hospitality development activities, thereby reinforcing place-based value creation.
5. Strategic Recommendation
We therefore assert that:
- The BERAT project should not revert to a centralized, donor-financed storage model.
- Public and donor resources should instead leverage and regenerate existing local assets.
- The association should be built around a decentralized, protocol-based network of trusted mills, which ensures efficiency, legitimacy, and long-term sustainability.
This approach aligns efficiency, trust, and quality — and represents the most robust pathway for consolidating the association during this critical funding phase.
Lorenzo Ciapetti, Team Leader
Gianluca Bagnara, Key expert
Anila Kopali, Key expert
EVOOlution 