Olive Oil News

Olives New Zealand reports that Certification 2012 is ready to roll but submissions to the testing service have to be done in batches of 12 bottles. Note you do not need to allow your oils to settle before drawing off your bottles for Certification – just don’t take it off the bottom of the tank or canister. The sooner you get your oils in for Certification, the sooner you can start using the OliveMarks on your bottles. For more information, email [email protected].

Collaborative research, conducted by food processor Cargill and the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS), has led to the refinement of methods to assure consistent oil quality in food products.

Greater Milwaukee is about to get a couple more specialty olive oil shops. Owners Jim and Susan Allen plan to open Oliva di Vita in Delafield on Monday. The following week, Josh and Nichol Saiia will open their third Oro di Oliva, this one in the Milwaukee Public Market. That will give the area five shops in a retail niche that has just emerged here in the last several years.
Don’t we wish for that sort of consumer interest and support! – Ed.

This year’s Tocal Field Days event will be held from Friday 4–Sunday 6 May, at the Tocal Agricultural Centre, Tocal NSW. The Tocal Field Days are held every year in the first weekend in May, with exhibitors featuring the latest in farming techniques and technologies from solar energy to fencing construction. There are also demonstrations, a range of entertainment including piglet races and the Grand Parade, and great food and wine. Tocal is 14km from Maitland and a free shuttle bus will operate from Maitland Railway station on the hour from 9am each day. More information https://www.tocalfielddays.com

Does the recovering economy have you feeling all spendy again? If so, Greece-based Speiron has just the luxury item for you – a $15,000 bottle of super premium extra virgin olive oil. That’s right, the 17-ounce bottle of Lambda pours for $147 per teaspoon. That’s per teaspoon, not tablespoon. It’s not simply that the olives are sourced from some of the oldest olive trees in all of Greece, harvested and pressed within hours, and filled by hand to preserve freshness and fruitiness, it’s also about exclusivity, says SmartMoney’s Charles Passy. “You’re really not buying the oil, you’re buying the bottle,” he says. “They packaged it to the deluxe level with specialty woods, gold wrapping, and your signature on the bottle.”

As they suggest, at $15,000 a bottle this oil is almost worth its weight in gold – Ed!

All the industry information you need to know is out now in the 2012 edition of the Olive Industry Directory. This vital annual reference book for the olive industry also includes: updated olivegrower and processor listings, supplier listings, Buyers’ Guide – one-stop supply shop, organisations, calendar of 2012 events, 2011 statistics and 2011 industry overview. To order call +618 8369 9555, email [email protected] or visit www.olivegrower.com.au.

‘Organic’ processors could be set for a “significant improvement” in the protection of produce against pathogens through the development of new wash system practices using ultrasound.