Back to The Future For Olive Oil – Are You Really a Vigin?

We are entering the Olive Frenzy in the region, it is quite an important moment in the life of this little fruit.  This week and next week we will visit the Olive Museum in Margueritte (Nimes) and other local Mills that have an open-door viewing event.  We are looking forward to discovering why there is a new emergence of the old practice of Stone Milling that appears to be replacing the Centrifuge equipment – Back to the Future for Olives.

Other issues surrounding Rules and Regulations are discussed at this time of year.  It is interesting that the labeling of Olive Oil is fairly ambiguous with lots of ‘unenforced’ criteria e.g. If you use a Centrifuge you cannot claim ‘Cold Pressed’ only ‘Cold Extracted’ – Cold Pressed is reserved for Olive Oil extracted by hydraulic means which makes sense n’est ce pas?   Most modern Olive Mills use Centrifuge equipment and are far from the old image of a ‘Grindstone Mill’ that used Donkey or Water power to turn the cogs; they look much more like a pharmaceutical laboratory set-up than anything else.  There is also new European Legislation on Olive Oil quality, provenance and labeling matters this is pertinent in light of the massive fraud from Italy, Spain and other Olive Oil producing nations.  We also see the Chinese now entering the fray so we all believe that this is a good idea to ensure the proper future of this industry.

Here is another issue in the market:  Pommace based Olive Oil ( Pommace Olive Oil Explained ) is not and cannot be offered as ‘real’ Olive Oil, or even called Olive Oil and especially NOT at all as Extra Virgin!  However you will be surprised how this is being ignored!  The French organisation for all these regulatory matters is yet another wonderful French Acronym (There is a lot of those here!) named AFIDOL (Association Francaise Interprofessionelle de l’Olive).  They control this market sector and are a fairly well organised group that ensures all the mechanisms are in place for the Mills in France to have the testing and accreditation made available.  As many in the industry know there is a Chemical and Sensory test that you can have done on all types of Olive Oils and this is something we recommend that you understand with respect to the claims of ‘Extra Virgin Olive Oil’ in your market-place.  Not all Olive Oil is Premium or Extra Virgin.  We have had 4 brands removed from the supermarket shelves here after and independent consumer magazine did a market review and test.   Big Brands flaunting the law – Who would imagine!