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Social media use is increasing, and that could be good news for manufacturers of branded products, as frequent social media users tend to be more loyal to name brands, according to new research from the NPD Group.
FIG & OLIVE, one of New York’s premier restaurants with a location in Scarsdale, NY, has introduced its first kid’s menu. FIG & OLIVE boasts an exquisite selection of more than 30 extra virgin olive oils from throughout the Mediterranean. The kid’s menu was created under the restaurant’s philosophy that extra virgin olive oil better accentuates food’s natural flavor than butter and offers five kid’s meal classics with a gourmet twist.
Expert tasters can judge the quality of an olive oil just smelling it, and they are not afraid to drink it from the official, small blue glass. But when it comes to “normal people” there is no better way to enjoy a good extra virgin olive oil than using it in a tasty recipe.That is why Arsial (Lazio’s Regional Agency for Development and Innovation in Agriculture) and Uliveti del Lazio (Lazio’s olive oil producers association) asked a bunch of young, clever chefs to come up with their own interpretation of some of the best extra virgin olive oils from the region.
According to the data by IOC, production in 2011/12 looks poised to be 302,000 tonnes higher than in the preceding crop year. Stocks of approximately 1 million tonnes are expected, an increase of 34%. Producers in Spain, Greece and Italy, the only three countries for which the IOC has reliable price data, are getting a low price – €1.75, €2.38 and €1.84/kg respectively – for the extra virgin olive oil they produce. One has to go back to May–June 2009 in the 2008/09 crop year to find comparable price levels.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board, are presenting a series of free workshops on soil health and carbon farming. The workshops will feature expert speakers on topics such as soil carbon, biology and fertility and will also introduce the Carbon Farming Initiative, including the process, methodologies for the region and funding opportunities. Sessions will run from 9:30am-4pm, with morning tea and lunch provided. Venues and dates are: Hahndorf – 19 June; Yankalilla – 20 June; Gawler – 21 June. For information or to register contact: Hahndorf – Melanie Bullers (08) 8389 5913, [email protected]; Yankalilla – Jodie Pain (08) 8550 3405, [email protected]; Gawler – Gail Kennedy (08) 8523 7700, [email protected].
Olive oil prices are at rock bottom, so food manufacturers would be advised to secure supplies now to fix prices, as the trend will not last, Mintec has warned. Low current demand and over-supply are responsible for the price crash but predictions are that the situation will change within a year, due to the severe drought across Spain’s major growing regions over the past season.
The price for olive oil has dropped to its lowest level in a decade and farmers in the Middle East are bearing the brunt as Spain and Italy dump their government-subsidised stocks at below cost. “The international market prices are going below sustainable levels,” Nasser Abu Farha, the director of Canaan Fair Trade that works with some 1,500 Palestinian farmers, told The Media Line.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year has given market research specialist Mintel the excuse to look at how consumers’ eating habits have changed since its first-ever report in 1972 – revealing how much more sophisticated the nation’s tastes have become. Many of what are now store cupboard essentials, for instance, were considered exotic 40 years ago. Then, just 16% of Brits had bought olive oil in the previous three months, while today over half are regular purchasers. Similarly, garlic and tomato puree were rarely seen in the British shopping basket, but now they are used by almost half of us. Sales of curry powder, on the other hand, are on the wane.
A parliamentary push is on for greater protection of the local olive oil industry, calling for more transparent labelling to stop misleading information on imported olive oil products. NSW Nationals Senator John Williams spoke on the issue in the Senate recently, urging regulatory authorities to “act fast” and avoid the Australian olive industry’s potential decimation from “wrongdoing, misleading advertising and misleading labelling”. In his speech, Senator Williams also accused retail supermarket chains of continuing “to knowingly sell” extra-virgin olive oil products that are “misleading, deceptive and not allowed under Australian standards”.
While generally a great night out, winemaker’s dinners are a dime a dozen these days. But what about a gourmet meal matched to premium local wines which also features premium local olive oil and olive products? It’s happening in Adelaide, with the Spice Market Restaurant at the Rockford Hotel presenting a dinner celebrating both of these great regional products. Viscous Virgins and Vinous Varietals is on Friday, 22 June and features Langhorne Creek olive oil producer Talinga Grove and Barossa’s Turkey Flat winery. Priced at $140pp, the event will start with a structured tasting of varietal oils, a blending competition and then a five-course meal, all accompanied by Turkey Flat’s varietal wines. What a great way to educate discerning consumers about the nuances of our wonderful fresh local oils. More information https://www.rockfordhotels.com.au/rockford-adelaide/adelaide-spice-market-dining.html by phone on 08 8211 8255 or email [email protected].