Our Cooperative

Santa Cruz Union Cooperative

Our history

The operating regime of the cooperative was established in 1928 with the participation of 125 members. The works were carried out by the engineer José Chico and with the collaboration of the participating members.

First steps

Cooperative

Its name was “Cooperative La Unión” and it was located within the municipality with the method of collecting and grinding the olives. It has been modernized over the years and has moved from the old mills and presses to the most modern systems. extraction.

Reform

In 1988, a major reform was undertaken, providing the cooperative with modern decanting and centrifugation systems to obtain quality virgin olive oil, moving on to grinding the olives in a few hours from harvesting in the field, thus avoiding the destroyed, so detrimental to the quality of the product.

The Linear

An olive cleaning and washing line was also installed in the olive mill patio, with which farmers obtained a great advance by not having to clean the product of leaves and dirt in the field. Since then the number of members that comprise it has only increased.

The Passage Of The Years

It is for this reason and the need to expand and modernize the oil mill that its location changed in 2008, being located on the outskirts of the town with completely new facilities and with the current name “la Unión de Sta. Cruz” Soc. Corp. of c/lm.

It has two weighing lines, 6 clean olive storage hoppers, two extraction lines, packaging machine, and final product drums with a capacity of 600 tons. two alperujo storage hoppers, pitter, heating boiler with olive pit feed.

The predominant varieties of olives that we process are cornicabra, manzanilla and picual and arbequina in smaller quantities.

We also process a small amount of organic virgin oil.

The number of members that currently comprise it is 540, the vast majority from Santa Cruz de la Zarza and also from neighboring towns in the provinces of Toledo and Cuenca.

It is included in the coop. of 2nd grade oleo Toledo, through which it sells the oil in bulk.

We bottle our own oils, virgin under the “zumacar” brand, extra virgin under the “olidehesa” brand and organic under the “gramon” name.