El Arte del Olivo - finalist Product Award 2023

Arte del Olivo was born in 2011 in response to the practice of burning olive pruning waste on farms in Jaén. This fact prompted Juan Manuel Molina Baena to create olive utensils with the prunings recovered from the farms and with the collaboration of the farmers, relying exclusively on online sales, photography and design to show and communicate them. From that moment on, the production of products dedicated to the kitchen and the home increased until it reached customers from all over Spain, Japan and Korea. The 0-Waste board is a board made with small pieces of olive left over from the workshop, whose intention was to demonstrate the possibilities of recovery and revaluation of a current work when it assimilates a discourse of recycling and environmental awareness. Juan uses the technique of gualdrapeado, which combines the small blocks of waste with a Nordic, rectangular and geometric design that enhances the beauty and sinuosity of the natural grain of each small discarded piece. In this way, the piece preserves the qualities and characteristics of the olive tree, making it more valuable than a single piece of olive wood.

Today, Arte del Olivo is positioned in the market as an eco-luxury company, able to influence and communicate the philosophy and values of craftsmanship to almost 100,000 people thanks to its work in social networks, being a reference in the adaptation of craftsmanship to new technologies and online communication. Currently, the project and its works have the support and collaboration of leading people and companies in the culinary and design world.