A coffee with Nieves Ocaña, Head of Global Purchasing at DEOLEO

L&A: Tell us a little about your experience at Deoleo and what your day-to-day life is like at the company.

Nieves: I have been part of Deoleo for more than two decades. From day one, I have been proud to work for a company that is part of our Mediterranean culture thanks to its flagship product: olive oil. We work with world-leading brands such as Carbonell, Bertolli and Carapelli, a leadership that is reflected in the figures. In 2024, the company achieved a turnover of close to £85 million, which underlines the scale and impact of our daily work.

My career has always been linked to the area of Purchasing and Procurement, where we coordinate everything from the search and selection of suppliers, through the strategy for each category, critical negotiations, contracting and just-in-time supply of materials to the plant. Day-to-day work is very dynamic, combining long-term strategic vision, essential for mitigating global risks, with immediate operational management. The key lies in anticipation and agility: analysing data in real time, understanding global market trends and making agile decisions to ensure the supply of materials with the quality and timing that our customers and production require.

I am part of a very talented and experienced team, which makes work flow naturally and efficiently. In addition, we contribute directly to sustainability goals and to driving innovation in new packaging formats.

L&A: After more than 20 years of experience in the company, which projects have been the most challenging for you, or which ones do you remember most and why?

Nieves: Throughout my career, I have faced many challenges, but the most significant ones have undoubtedly been the integrations resulting from the acquisition of other companies. Adapting methodologies, processes and, especially, such different work cultures under the same umbrella is not easy, but the effort we have put in has allowed us to grow, learn from best practices and generate very positive operational and cultural synergies for the entire global corporation.

Another project that I remember with particular satisfaction and that transformed our area was the complete digitisation of Purchasing through the implementation of an advanced electronic trading platform. This change was a catalyst, forcing us to review the entire process from start to finish, but the result was a much more transparent, agile and efficient system. It allowed us to standardise the reuse of processes, define a common working methodology in different countries and gave us the visibility we needed for more informed decision-making. In the field of innovation, in 2025 we launched our ‘CHEF’ project (others call it ‘aceitera’), which is completely new in terms of packaging: a new bottle, a new cap, all with a radically different concept in terms of both image and consumer experience. This strategic rollout was successfully executed under our main brands in key markets such as Spain, Italy and the United States.