Visiting BIO PLANÈTE, the Oldest Organic Oil Mill in Europe

More than a week back, I went on a field trip to get an exclusive glimpse into the oldest organic oil mill in Europe. I didn’t know what to expect, the itinerary didn’t give much away. But there was this motto of the day: heritage creates future. As a foodie at heart, I was pumped to learn about the oil’s nutritional benefits and the details of how organic oils are manufactured.

When I walked into BIO PLANÈTE facilities, it was apparent how much passion and pride the staff takes into their products. It wasn’t difficult to tell that these people were true ‘organic food pioneers’ trying to rectify what the conventional food industry had failed to manage: focusing on the people and the planet and not on profit alone.

A True Pioneer in The Organic Food Industry

Judith Moog, the owner of BIO PLANÈTE, is what you call a true female entrepreneur. She took over her father’s oil mill at the age of 21 in France. At the time, there was no overwhelming interest in organic foods in general. But she kept believing in the idea of manufacturing organic nutritious oils. She opened a second subsidiary of BIO PLANÈTE in Klappendorf near Dresden focussing also on growing seeds instead of only pressing them.

Here is where Judith created a much broader definition of the organic concept. She started to look beyond the factory walls by taking responsibility for the whole the supply chain. BIO PLANÈTE started to connect with local farmers at the yearly ‘Seed Day’ (Saatentag) to encourage them to take the switch to organic farming. At the other end of the supply chain, BIO PLANÈTE only supplies organic stores supporting those at the forefront of the organic industry.

Heritage Creates Future

After a relaxed chat with Judith and a cup of coffee, it was oil tasting time! And hey, who is here for the food? I am! I did invest in good oils in the past but I was blown away by the flavor of each and one of BIO PLANÈTE‘s oils. My favorite was by far the hazelnut oil which smelled and tasted like hazelnut spread. My foodie heart jumped for joy twice cause Wild + Root, a plantbased zero-waste food agency, was behind the delicious food creations and the workshop we were about to experience.

A workshop aiming to explore our personal food memories through food. We started by noting down personal memories connected to food, our family or childhood. The large table was already set with lots of ingredients to turn those memories into a dish. As you can imagine this was pretty much down my alley and I really enjoyed getting creative with food. Letting my memories fly, I remembered wild childhood days in my grandma’s garden eating my way through the the raspberry bushes. So my heritage dish turned into a summery berry salad, sprinkled with dried flowers and drizzled with a lemon sugarbeet molasses sauce.

Why is it even important to invest in organic oils?

What was the biggest takeaway from that day? The fact that buying non-organic oil (and food in general) is not an option anymore. Judith Moog says that oil should be the concentration of sunlight and nutrition. Truth told, in modern non-organic oil production, oil is filtered with a petrol-like chemical liquid. Needless to say that this procedure has nothing to do with nutrition and how healthy food is made. Food manufacturers have moved so far away from what I would call ‘a natural and sustainable food production’ that it scares me sometimes. But the ones who do defy the money focussed food manufacturers are the real game changers in todays world.