5 ms·

At least to me it makes no sense to mix a "premium" product, i.e. extra virgin olive oil with sunflower oil, so - personally - I doubt that the 20% olive oil (p

by jaclaz 8y ago

At least to me it makes no sense to mix a "premium" product, i.e. extra virgin olive oil with sunflower oil, so - personally - I doubt that the 20% olive oil (provided there is actually 20% of olive oil) is actually extra virgin. I find also queer that on the label of something with the name "Iberia" is depoicted what appears as an Italian (likely Tuscany) landscape. And BTW is actually Tuscany, more precisely San Quirico d'Orcia: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-sunrise-valley-san-quirico-dorcia-141591397 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-sunrise-v... P.S.: does that thingy really cost US$ 48.50 on Amazon? For 2 liters, that is 24.25/lt. Locally (Italy) the best of the best (and possibly even better) 100% EVO can be max (retail) 14-15 Euro/lt.

jhauris 8y ago
Premium olive oil can cost around $24/lt in the US, but most people pay more like $8 per liter for something you probably wouldn't identify as olive oil. It would appear that the US is largely considered a dumping ground of olive oil that is subpar in Italy or Spain, and is frequently sold mislabeled as a higher quality olive oil than it is (or very old, or not even olive oil).[0],[1] I can't find a source right now, but I read at some point that Italy doesn't actually export their top grades of olive oil, as producers have trouble even meeting local demand. 0: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/06/166662525/u-s-olive-oil-makers-say-imports-arent-always-so-extra-virgin https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/06/166662525/u-... 1: https://consumerist.com/2010/07/07/us-is-a-dumping-ground-for-crappy-dangerous-olive-oil/ https://consumerist.com/2010/07/07/us-is-a-dumping-ground-fo...
- oAlbe 8y ago
  Italy has stopped meeting local demand for a while at this point. The bulk of the EVO oil sold here seems to be Spanish, and if you go in any grocery store (big or small) you'll have trouble finding a bottle of EVO oil that is 100% made in Italy. Most of them (I'm tempted to say the majority, but I only have anectodal data) have a disclaimer on the label stating that the oil was "made from oils sourced from the European Union". Last time I saw an actually made in Italy bottle of oil was in a specialized store, and it costed about 3x more than those in the grocery shops. There was recently a very thorough investigative journalism report by an Italian program on public television called "Report" that dug quite deep into the whole deal with Italy and oil. Turns out that there's also a lot of shadiness going on in the industry. I'd link to it, but it's entirely in Italian and last I watched it there were no subtitles whatsoever. Sorry.
- jaclaz 8y ago
  I had a quick look at amazon.com, and easily found this: https://www.amazon.com/Frantoio-Franci-Delicate-Healthy-Antioxidants/dp/B01N29XWOP/ https://www.amazon.com/Frantoio-Franci-Delicate-Healthy-Anti... which - while being obviously an "industrial" oil (i.e. something that an Italian wouldn't probably buy anyway as small, local producers that do not export have better products) - is definitely a good quality/brand at US$ 36/lt, the 24 US$/lt for 20% of it + 80% of sunflower oil ( something that is valued around 6-10 US$/lt retail) is "still steep": 0.20x36=7.20 0.80x10=8.00 7.20+8.00=15.20<<24
buboard 8y ago
So , at best it is an american product with a spanish-sounding name that contains 20% of supposedly italian EVOO which is probably not italian itself, but greek.
- StavrosK 8y ago
  > which is probably not italian itself, but greek. Why would that be? AFAIK there's more cheap/low quality Italian olive oil in the US than there is Greek.
  - Scoundreller 8y ago
    Greece grows a lot of olives, but doesn’t have much processing/bottling capacity, so it gets shipped to Italy for that. As a result, the country of origin on the label could have Italy written on it.
  - buboard 8y ago
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2016/02/10/the-olive-oil-scam-if-80-is-fake-why-do-you-keep-buying-it/#5999147a639d https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2016/02/10/the...
- metroholografix 8y ago
  Greek olive oil is considered the best in the world and doesn't suffer from Mafia infiltration which is a huge problem in Italy. Here is some great Greek olive oil available in US, that you can buy without fear of adulteration or other shadiness: https://www.amazon.com/Terra-Creta-Kolymvari-Protective-Designation/dp/B00KROTNAW/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1549294575 https://www.amazon.com/Terra-Creta-Kolymvari-Protective-Desi... https://www.amazon.com/Iliada-Extra-Virgin-Olive-Litre/dp/B075VDDCZ7/ref=sr_1_7_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1549294759 https://www.amazon.com/Iliada-Extra-Virgin-Olive-Litre/dp/B0...
  - buboard 8y ago
    I can attest to that, as i am a producer. But the problem is that vast quantities are sold wholesale to italy/spain instead of being marketed directly to consumers. https://www.thenationalherald.com/185342/greek-olive-oil-producers-shut-export-market/ https://www.thenationalherald.com/185342/greek-olive-oil-pro...
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>P.S.: does that thingy really cost US$ 48.50 on Amazon? For 2 liters, that is 24.25/lt. Locally (Italy) the best of the best (and possibly even better) 100% EVO can be max (retail) 14-15 Euro/lt. A nice-ish jacket costs maybe tens of American dollars in India (I use the word "maybe" mostly to account for what other people consider "nice", a jacket I would wear costs under $20USD). Once it's imported to the US you move the decimal place to the right at least once. Importing stuff is expensive. There's a lot of overhead to pay for.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  I can’t wait for India to open up its equivalent of AliExpress.
dagw 8y ago
At least to me it makes no sense to mix a "premium" product, i.e. extra virgin olive oil with sunflower oil You're thinking from a culinary rather than marketing standpoint. And quite frankly Extra Virgin olive oil doesn't have to be that expensive. Here's a company that sells (what it claims to be) extra virgin olive oil for less than $1.50 a liter when you order by the ton: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Extra-Virgin-Olive-Oils-from-Sicily_50038479369.html https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Extra-Virgin-Olive-Oi...
- crankylinuxuser 8y ago
  Uhhhhhhh, you'd consume something from Alibaba/Aliexpress??? You're likely to be getting Gutter Oil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil I think I'll pass that... deal.
  - dagw 8y ago
    I obviously wouldn't touch the stuff. But if I was an unscrupulous company who wanted to be able to write the words Extra Virgin on my "Premium Blend" oil then I'd consider it a great deal.

by jaclaz 8y ago

jhauris 8y ago

Premium olive oil can cost around $24/lt in the US, but most people pay more like $8 per liter for something you probably wouldn't identify as olive oil. It would appear that the US is largely considered a dumping ground of olive oil that is subpar in Italy or Spain, and is frequently sold mislabeled as a higher quality olive oil than it is (or very old, or not even olive oil).[0],[1] I can't find a source right now, but I read at some point that Italy doesn't actually export their top grades of olive oil, as producers have trouble even meeting local demand. 0: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/06/166662525/u-s-olive-oil-makers-say-imports-arent-always-so-extra-virgin https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/06/166662525/u-... 1: https://consumerist.com/2010/07/07/us-is-a-dumping-ground-for-crappy-dangerous-olive-oil/ https://consumerist.com/2010/07/07/us-is-a-dumping-ground-fo...

oAlbe 8y ago
Italy has stopped meeting local demand for a while at this point. The bulk of the EVO oil sold here seems to be Spanish, and if you go in any grocery store (big or small) you'll have trouble finding a bottle of EVO oil that is 100% made in Italy. Most of them (I'm tempted to say the majority, but I only have anectodal data) have a disclaimer on the label stating that the oil was "made from oils sourced from the European Union". Last time I saw an actually made in Italy bottle of oil was in a specialized store, and it costed about 3x more than those in the grocery shops. There was recently a very thorough investigative journalism report by an Italian program on public television called "Report" that dug quite deep into the whole deal with Italy and oil. Turns out that there's also a lot of shadiness going on in the industry. I'd link to it, but it's entirely in Italian and last I watched it there were no subtitles whatsoever. Sorry.
jaclaz 8y ago
I had a quick look at amazon.com, and easily found this: https://www.amazon.com/Frantoio-Franci-Delicate-Healthy-Antioxidants/dp/B01N29XWOP/ https://www.amazon.com/Frantoio-Franci-Delicate-Healthy-Anti... which - while being obviously an "industrial" oil (i.e. something that an Italian wouldn't probably buy anyway as small, local producers that do not export have better products) - is definitely a good quality/brand at US$ 36/lt, the 24 US$/lt for 20% of it + 80% of sunflower oil ( something that is valued around 6-10 US$/lt retail) is "still steep": 0.20x36=7.20 0.80x10=8.00 7.20+8.00=15.20<<24

buboard 8y ago

So , at best it is an american product with a spanish-sounding name that contains 20% of supposedly italian EVOO which is probably not italian itself, but greek.

StavrosK 8y ago
> which is probably not italian itself, but greek. Why would that be? AFAIK there's more cheap/low quality Italian olive oil in the US than there is Greek.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  Greece grows a lot of olives, but doesn’t have much processing/bottling capacity, so it gets shipped to Italy for that. As a result, the country of origin on the label could have Italy written on it.
- buboard 8y ago
  https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2016/02/10/the-olive-oil-scam-if-80-is-fake-why-do-you-keep-buying-it/#5999147a639d https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2016/02/10/the...
metroholografix 8y ago
Greek olive oil is considered the best in the world and doesn't suffer from Mafia infiltration which is a huge problem in Italy. Here is some great Greek olive oil available in US, that you can buy without fear of adulteration or other shadiness: https://www.amazon.com/Terra-Creta-Kolymvari-Protective-Designation/dp/B00KROTNAW/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1549294575 https://www.amazon.com/Terra-Creta-Kolymvari-Protective-Desi... https://www.amazon.com/Iliada-Extra-Virgin-Olive-Litre/dp/B075VDDCZ7/ref=sr_1_7_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1549294759 https://www.amazon.com/Iliada-Extra-Virgin-Olive-Litre/dp/B0...
- buboard 8y ago
  I can attest to that, as i am a producer. But the problem is that vast quantities are sold wholesale to italy/spain instead of being marketed directly to consumers. https://www.thenationalherald.com/185342/greek-olive-oil-producers-shut-export-market/ https://www.thenationalherald.com/185342/greek-olive-oil-pro...

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>P.S.: does that thingy really cost US$ 48.50 on Amazon? For 2 liters, that is 24.25/lt. Locally (Italy) the best of the best (and possibly even better) 100% EVO can be max (retail) 14-15 Euro/lt. A nice-ish jacket costs maybe tens of American dollars in India (I use the word "maybe" mostly to account for what other people consider "nice", a jacket I would wear costs under $20USD). Once it's imported to the US you move the decimal place to the right at least once. Importing stuff is expensive. There's a lot of overhead to pay for.

Scoundreller 8y ago
I can’t wait for India to open up its equivalent of AliExpress.

dagw 8y ago

At least to me it makes no sense to mix a "premium" product, i.e. extra virgin olive oil with sunflower oil You're thinking from a culinary rather than marketing standpoint. And quite frankly Extra Virgin olive oil doesn't have to be that expensive. Here's a company that sells (what it claims to be) extra virgin olive oil for less than $1.50 a liter when you order by the ton: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Extra-Virgin-Olive-Oils-from-Sicily_50038479369.html https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Extra-Virgin-Olive-Oi...

crankylinuxuser 8y ago
Uhhhhhhh, you'd consume something from Alibaba/Aliexpress??? You're likely to be getting Gutter Oil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil I think I'll pass that... deal.
- dagw 8y ago
  I obviously wouldn't touch the stuff. But if I was an unscrupulous company who wanted to be able to write the words Extra Virgin on my "Premium Blend" oil then I'd consider it a great deal.