Off-the-Shelf Olive Oil Competition in USA and Canada to Reward Value for Money

A new Olive Oil competition planned for North America during 2015 will reset consumers’ expectations of awards in the olive oil industry. The results will be announced at a two-day conference in Chicago on 25 and 26 August.

The competition will introduce a number of innovations by evaluating the olive oils on a range of attributes important to consumers:

• Entries will be collected off-the-shelf as the consumers would buy the products
• The olive oils must be available in the USA and/or Canada
• Scoring will include points for:
• flavour
• percentage of healthy monounsaturated fats
• smoke point
• price

 The winners will reflect ‘value for money‘ and the judging panel will be consumer-based.

 

The organisers are the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) in association with International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes. The competition is designed to give greater credibility to awarded olive oils.

An off-the shelf competition is unique and highly credible because it prevents suppliers from developing an olive oil to be used for competition entries that is different from the oil sold in the marketplace under the same brand.

Entries for the competition will open in early 2015 with the winners being announced at the Chicago event at the end of August 2015.

Eryn Balch, Executive Vice President of the NAOOA, when announcing the new competition said: ‘We hope to redesign the landscape of olive oil competitions worldwide by concentrating on the factors important to consumers, namely flavor, health benefits, smoke point and price. The concept of value for money – high quality flavorsome extra virgin olive oil at a reasonable price – will catch on.’

She added ’we have also included a category for olive oil grade products to communicate to consumers that although extra virgin is the best olive oil, all olive oil is better than other vegetable oils’.

Further details of the competition and Chicago Conference will be available through a link to www.savantes.com by the end of January. 

Champion Extra Virgin Olive Oil Taster Competition

A competition to find the most accomplished taster of extra virgin olive oil will be staged in Chicago, USA on 26 August 2015.

Organised by International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes in association with the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA), the competition will be open to all those attending a major event in Chicago planned for August 25 and 26, 2015.

Tasters will be invited to undertake a series of taste tests which will recognise their:

• ability to detect and describe defects in extra virgin olive oil,
• rank different intensities,
• discern between different aromas and tastes, and
• identify extra virgin olive oils from different varieties and regions worldwide.

 Those who take the tests will also have the option of being ranked on the International Register of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes. A score of 60% will accord the status of Associate Savante and 80% the status of Savante. Currently there are nine Associate Savantes worldwide coming from Spain, Canada, New Zealand, USA and Jordan.

The International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes programme was founded in 2001 to provide professional development towards the expert understanding of the tastes and uses of extra virgin olive oil. Courses are run annually in various countries including Italy, USA, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and United Kingdom.

Savantes is an independent enterprise which does not accept sponsorship or support from any organisation which would be seen to compromise the ability to present objectively the full range of styles of high quality extra virgin olive produced around the world. For the courses producers are invited to submit their oils for tasting with the invitations predicated on quality, awards and differentiation.

Principal and organiser of Savantes, Simon Field said when announcing the plans for the competition ’ This will present a great opportunity for tasters from all parts of the global olive industry to assess their skills, not only in technical tasting but also in recognising varietals from other regions’.

He continued, ‘There are many tasters at all levels of the industry who are self-trained or formally trained. Now is the time for them to have their skills recognised and publicised on an international register of tasters. We also hope it will encourage those who do not achieve the higher scores to engage in further training and experience to come back next year to gain higher recognition.’

Further details of the competition and Chicago Conference will be available through a link to www.savantes.com by the end of January. 

Infusion Ban May Hit North American Olive Oil and Vinegar Boutiques

In 2011 the Olive Business newsletter asked the question ‘Should something be done about the labelling of infused ‘extra virgin’ olive oils or is it more convenient to live with this inconvenient truth?’
Now three years later the International Olive Council has turned its attention to resolve the issue.
The IOC ‘Trade Standard Applying to Olive Oils and Olive Pomace Oils’ clearly states that no food additives can be added to olive oil, with the exception of a small amount of alpha-tocopherol for refined olive oils. The essences, fruit, herbs and spices added as infusions or flavours are obviously food additives.
The push by the IOC to have member countries ban the descriptor ‘olive oil’ being used on any infused olive oils will have wide implications for the trade, especially in the boutique olive and vinegar stores in the USA and Canada. Flavoured oils are popular in these countries and make up a large proportion of the sales in the boutique stores.
It will be interesting to see how active those who have been at the forefront of exposing allegedly ‘fraudulent’ olive oils will be in policing this obvious breach of international trade standards. There are also implications for competitions such as the LA Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition and the Australian Olive Association Competition which include classes for flavoured oils.
The ability to infuse olive oils with different tastes and aromas, and the inability to test the base olive oil for integrity, has enabled the use of non-compliant oils to be used in the infused oils.
If there isn’t an innovative new descriptor developed that is attractive to consumers, the decline in the sale of infused oils could increase the amount of olive oil in the market which does not comply with the extra virgin olive oil classification.

Per Capita consumption of Olive Oil in US continues to Rise

Data presented at the recent Savantes programme in New York shows that per capita consumption of olive oil in the USA continues to rise steadily.

The consumption per person is approaching I litre per person.

East Coast Biggest Users of Olive Oil in USA

In an analysis presented to Savantes New York in February, Eryn Balch, Executive Vice President of the North American Olive Oil Association, revealed that the Eastern States consume 54% of all classifications of olive oil in the USA.

Based on the US Census Divisions, the data showed the consumption as New England Division – 9%, Middle Atlantic 23% and South Atlantic 22%. By comparison the West Coast which is covered by the Pacific Division consumed 10%.

USA Short on Cost Effective Olive Oil Testing Facilities

For many Savantes participants the session on defects in olive oil was their first exposure to the full range of faults in olive oil. It was evident in the discussions that ensued that enterprises were committed to putting in place or enhancing in-house tasting panels and quality control systems. It was also apparent that there was a general lack of cost-effective, internationally accredited and independent testing facilities in the US.

There was a small percentage of olive oils presented for tasting which had possible defects, the suppliers of these oils will be informed of this with the suggestion that the oils be submitted to internationally accredited tasting panels for confirmation or otherwise of the extra virgin classification on the labels. In keeping with the international convention that these oils be classified by accredited panels, Savantes does not reveal the brand of the oils to participants to protect the integrity of the brand until the quality is properly and independently assessed.

Per Capita Consumption of Olive Oil Increases in the USA

Per capita consumption of olive oil in the USA continues to rise (USDA, World Bank and IOC data). Over the five years from 2007 to 2011 consumption has increased from 0.82 litres per person to 0.88 litres. Most of the olive oil is imported making the US the largest importer outside the European Union. Local production, mainly from California, produces approximately 2% of consumer requirements.

Large importer of olive oil into the US first to join quality programme.

Pompeian Inc, one of the largest importers of olive oil into the United States, has become the first company to participate in the USDA quality programme for olive oil.

Reported in the Olive Oil Times, the move is the first direct response to efforts to improve the quality of olive oil available to consumers in the US.

Interestingly the first company to join the voluntary standard regime is an importer and the comment facility which follows the article in the Olive Oil Times is empty. Usually there is a lot of chatter following reports on quality – ironically this perceived win has failed to attract any accolades.

Read the article: http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/pompeian-usda-olive-oil-monitoring/25740