PURCHASING TIPS FOR PROFESSIONAL BUYERS IN THE OLIVE OIL CATEGORY Quality assurance, fraud protection and clear labeling Olive oil world production has exceeded 3 million tons recently, tripled from 60 years ago. Spain is the largest producer by far, followed by Italy, Tunisia, Turkey, Greece, and Morocco. Countries like Australia, the United States, and China have also experienced increased production thanks to the development of medium, high and super-high-density (SHD) systems. SHD was pioneered in Spain, arrived in California in 1999, and brought a paradigm shift to the state industry, which until then was constituted of primarily small, hand-harvested orchards. The system featured densely planted hedgerows (600 to 900 trees per acre vs. the traditional 35 to 90 trees per acre) that allowed for efficient harvest with over-the-row equipment. Harvests usually occur around October to February in the Northern Hemisphere and April to June in the Southern Hemisphere. The International Olive Council (IOC), formed by the United Nations in 1959 primarily to adopt trade standards and encourage international cooperation on research, established the olive oil standards that are foundations for other olive oil standards worldwide. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has voluntary standards on olive oil, and there is currently a petition at (FDA) requesting a Federal Standard of Identity for olive oil. In 2014, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) adopted its olive oil standard and formed Olive Oil Commission Of California (OOCC). Members of the OOCC are California olive oil producers of over 5000 gallons who participate in mandatory testing programs to ensure the oil meets the CDFA standards which have stricter quality standards than the IOC and USDA standards.
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GLOBAL RETAIL BRANDS / OCTOBER 2023
