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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 wou

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

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