International News/Trends
An exceptional 1,300-year-old olive oil factory was unearthed recently during excavations in the Tel Aviv suburb of Hod Hasharon. The Israel Antiquities Authority’s find, dated to the late Byzantine or early Muslim period, narrowly escaped being paved over by a planned roadway. Excavators found a pressing floor for olives, a piping system, trenches, and cisterns that drained and stored the fresh olive oil. Stone weights used for pressing sacks of olives were found beside the ruins. By the archaeologists’ estimations, the site was an industrial concern and not private.
Read MoreIndia imported 5,938 metric tons of olive oil in 2011, mostly from Italy and Spain, compared to 3,988 metric tons during the period in 2010, according to customs data. While that amounted to a 49% increase over the previous year, it is still an extremely small amount of olive oil for a country of one and a quarter billion people. Most of the growth was for olive pomace oil – the lowest edible grade of oil made from olives – which jumped by 131% during the period.
Read MoreWhich olive oil farms are thriving and which ones are diving – and why – is the focus of a new European Commission report. Covering the three main EU producers – Spain, Italy, and Greece – the “EU olive farms report” analyses trends in cost, margin and farm income in the decade to 2010. The short answer is that income has been on a more or less drastic decreasing trend everywhere except Extremadura and Sicily. Not only that but the average income of olive oil farms is significantly lower than the average for all farms.
Read MoreL’association Française Interprofessionelle de L’Olive, (AFIDOL) the interprofessional association for olive oil in France, held a general assembly in Nice to outline the activities for the past year and to assess the results at the end of its three-year mandate. The private organisation set up in 1999 works with French olive growers, 230 private and public millers, commercial agents, table olive producers and olive tree nurseries to improve and develop the production, processing and marketing of French olive oil.
Read MoreDespite a small decline during the recession, increasing consumer demand for olive oil has kept production growing over the past five years. As a result, more operators will become USDA-certified.
Read MoreThe September issue of Consumer Reports ranks 23 varieties of extra-virgin olive oil from the US, Argentina, Chile, Greece and Italy. According to a taste test of 138 bottles, some of the better-known brands like Bertolli scored low, while others like Trader Joe’s California Estate took top honors. Consumer Reports noted that more than half the oils tasted fermented or stale, while only nine met the criteria to be considered “flawless.”
Read MoreThe largest fast food chain in Greece, Goody’s, is preparing all of its meals using olive oil instead of palm oil, and only extra virgin on their salads. The company called the policy a big step forward and said its menu was characterised by “great variety and the carefully selected ingredients founded on the values of Mediterranean cooking.” The 2009 oil change took two years of preparations, and it was the first time that a restaurant chain started to use olive oil exclusively. Goody’s has become Greece’s leading restaurant chain, despite the competition from powerful multinational rivals like McDonald’s.
Read MoreAt least 35 million euros ($43m) was spent worldwide on promoting olive oil in 2010, according to the International Olive Council. The figure, which includes both publicly and privately funded campaigns across 33 countries, was calculated as part of the IOC-commissioned who’s who in the promotion of olive oil world-wide survey.
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