California Olive Oil News^©
A Publication of The Olive Oil Source  

Volume 5 Issue 1

January - February 2002

Sonoma Olive Festival

The first annual Sonoma Olive Festival was off to an ambitious start with a candlelit seven course "Founder's Dinner" at the historic Mission San Francisco Solano and barracks.  Local restaurateur and food critic Narsai David was master of ceremonies.  The evening started with a tasting of California olive oils and hors d'oeuvres such as seared muscovy duck with mixed olives on Crustini and a Kalamata olive and walnut bread with three pepper chermoula.  Each of the subsequent courses was made with a local olive oil and paired with two Sonoma wines.  Area restaurants vied to prepare each course; the chef presented his comments after.

December 8th the mission hosted a blessing of the olive crop.  Mission olive grove restoration project director Gabriella Leonhard and volunteers Tim Noonan and others were also there selling trees propagated from some of the original mission groves in the Santa Barbara area to benefit the project. 

After the blessing, attendees were encouraged to follow the olive trails map to selected wineries where wine tasting and olive oil tasting were combined.  At Buena Vista Winery, Lena Hahn-Schuman, the head gardener for Stone Edge Extra Virgin Olive Oil  was offering tastes to an enthusiastic crowd.  Stone Edge has been in production for 2 years now with old growth Manzanillo  trees 50 - 100 years old transplanted to a wine country estate.  This year's harvest from the 90 trees went to the  McEvoy stone press and has an organic certification. 

At the recently remodeled Sebastiani winery Mike and Alison O'Donnell, proprietors of Remezzano Extra Virgin Olive Oil  were standing behind the tasting bar giving an olive oil education to surprised wine tasters.  Their oil is available at Drogers, Dean & DeLuca and Oakville Grocery.

Mike and Alison O'Donnell of Remezzano

Imagery Estate near Glen Ellen hosted Oil of Paicenes.  Their Mission olive groves are in Paicenes, near Hollister in the San Joaquin valley.  Oil of Paicenes won gold and best of class at the Los Angeles county fair. Sciabica and Sons in Modesto pressed their olives this year.  Imagery Estate wine staff suggested a 1999 white burgundy as a tasting companion to the oil.  Several wineries were contemplating a more integrated  "food" and wine program next year to lead visitors through a combined tasting.

While some tasted olive oil and wine, others were out picking olives for The Olive Press's second community press this season. 

Winter 2002 Fancy Food Show

San Francisco - A visit to the The fancy food show has often helped predict the direction of the U.S. olive oil industry in the ensuing year.  Past category winner O Olive Oil was one of the first with citrus oils, now a part of almost every producer's line.  Clever packaging ideas seen at the show inevitably show up on many olive oil products.  While 99% of the show is obviously not olive oil, observing what is going on in the mustard and aioli aisles can give a clue to what consumers may be asking for and how to cater to that demand.

2002 Winter Fancy Food Show

This year what first struck the eye was alas, greater security precautions.  After finally getting into the show it seemed that more producers were adding organic ingredients if possible.  Fear of fat was not evident; few products were bragging about low calorie or low fat. Many products were claiming to be low in sugar.  Sugar free chocolates were offered at several booths.  Incidentally, last year's enthusiasm for chai, a tea and milk drink, was tempered and the new drink being pushed was hot chocolate.  We're talking the kind of thick hot chocolate which will hold the spoon up in the middle. Just the thing to wash down that olive oil.  

Olives every which way

Getting back to oil; this year there were even more bouquets of dried fruit, herbs and flowers suspended in various oils.  Some of these were true works of art, sealed and not meant to be consumed, while others were reasonably priced olive oil or canola oils with interesting flavors. Martha Stewart even had a TV show about making your own artistically infused oils this past year.  (see our page on flavoring olive oils).  Abernathy oils were cilantro, pesto, and garlic flavored.

As mentioned before, flavored oils seem to be bigger every year.  Lemon, Orange, Lime, Grapefruit, Tangerine, and Basil were the most common.   Supremo's oils are infused with citrus zest and are all organic.  They were also showing imported oils from Puglia, Tuscany and Lazio.  Even the international olive oil exhibitors were selling infused oils, something not seen in prior years.

One disturbing trend seen the last few years:  olive oil marketers have branched out into first flavored oils and dipping blends, then into sauces, mustards, vinegars, etc. and now a few, like Tulocay and Co. did not even have  a bottle of olive oil at the show.  (Although Catherine Bergen said she does a good business in private labeling oil for wineries and most recently COPIA and an undisclosed large house wares chain.)

Steven Dambeck of Apollo Olive Oil in Oregon House, CA offered tasting of their mission and Manzanillo blend.  Apollo has about 10,000 trees planted representing 37 different varieties of olive.  Marketing manager Kimberly Tsirigoti described how as the trees mature their master blender will go to work making a superior oil.  They are expecting organic certification this year.

West Coast Olive Oil offered private labeling, co packing and will even put your olive oil in an aerosol can.  Marketing director Karen Moore described one advantage of the aerosol; a spray of oil is such a small "portion" that the label can advertise "zero calories".

Condiment or commodity?  Although several producers displayed food service bulk packing, many others seem to be selling an ever smaller bottle. Gold medal winner Bella Cucina had a 100 cc bottle of tangerine oil on display.  With its diminutive neck and top, it seemed more like a cologne than a foodstuff.

Olive oil as an ingredient has lost some of last year's luster.  Olive oil chips were prominently displayed at one booth but there seemed to be less interest in the health benefits of olive oil as an ingredient this year.

Pill antioxidants made from olives were displayed in the Santa Barbara Olive Company and Creagri booths.

Creagri antioxidants

Olive oil showed up in wooden crates, corrugated boxes, and cut-out packaging.  O Olive Oil had their colorful shipping tubes on display.  Greg Hinson described their new Tunisian connection.  He will be in Africa this January and February overseeing the crush of a unique Tunisian lemon with local olives for sale in the U.S. 

O Olive Oil tube packs

Napa Peak, a new line of olive oil from Napa Valley Naturals was comprised of lemon, lime, tangerine and oregano flavored oils.  The olives are crushed with the fruit and all are organic.  The lemon basil is infused with fresh basil for 24 - 48 hours then topped off with dry basil flakes for a nice presentation.

Maurice Penna of MC&P Farms tempted show goers with unusual "seasonal" fresh olives, crunchy and  without the usual heavy brine.

And how does one settle his stomach after a day of tasting olive oil? Just stop by the Jelly Belly booth for preview samples of the Harry Potter inspired Bertie Botts every flavor beans. The flavors we were handed: sardine, vomit, dirt, and spinach.  Pass the Tums please.

ConAgra Foods is launching Fleischmann's Premium Blend spread made with olive oil with its first TV ad campaign in 6 years. The addition of olive oil is being marketed as a "modern twist" that can add taste and satisfy the health conscious consumer. Of course the olive oil flavor has been hidden by a "rich buttery taste". Olive oil is being added to many food items for its recognized health value. Several years ago former Chrysler head Lee Iacocca came out with an olive oil and canola oil spread; Olivio. Smart Balance, another health spread, has at times contained olive oil.  Olive oil is an expensive ingredient for spreads, typically made with much cheaper seed oils. Having a major food manufacturer touting the salubrious effects of olive oil on national TV should benefit the olive oil industry.