Innoliva Secures EUR 16 million Green Financing from Banco Sabadell and Caja Rural del Sur

Seville, Spain, June 2023: Innoliva, one of the world’s largest extra virgin olive oil producers, today announced that it has recently signed a EUR 16 million debt facility that has been classified as “green financing”. The facility, which will be used to support Innoliva’s continued expansion, aims to facilitate and support environmentally sustainable economic activity and is based on EU taxonomy standards, ICMA standards and EIB standards.

Innoliva was acquired by the sustainable food and agriculture fund, Cibus Fund L.P. (‘Cibus’ or the ‘Fund’), in 2017. Under Cibus’ ownership, Innoliva’s production area has doubled and its product offering has diversified to include organic extra virgin olive oil, table olives and almonds. During this time, sustainability and ESG have been integrated into Innoliva’s management practices and business operations, with management continuously reviewing and improving policies to align with sustainability and food safety standards.

The Sustainable Financing Framework is designed to provide capital to accelerate the transition to a more resource-efficient and low-carbon economy. Innoliva’s receipt of this facility is a significant milestone and a testament to the efforts and progress of the company in the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices, underpinned by energy efficiency, diversity in HR policies, an increase in positive social impact and development of Innoliva’s organic footprint, with over 2,000 hectares of organic certification.

Jorge Pena, CEO at Innoliva, said: “Developing and maintaining Innoliva’s sustainable production practices throughout the company over the years has been a core focus of the team. We are extremely proud to receive this green financing. It acknowledges the hard work of the Innoliva team, where sustainable agricultural practices are embraced as a core growth principle.”

Rob Appleby, Chief Investment Officer at Cibus Capital and Innoliva Board member, said: “Cibus’ investment in Innoliva has been an exemplar of the Cibus Fund’s strategy to provide growth capital to businesses producing, processing and distributing healthy food while guiding a transition to more sustainable production. The banks’ provision of this green financing is a significant accomplishment, and the team should be very proud of the achievement.”