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

Volume 5 Issue 11

November  2002

New Federal Organic Labeling Act

Consumers will find new organic food labels at the grocery store since implementation of the National Standards on Organic Agricultural Production and Handling Act. The act is administered by the National Organic Program (NOP) under the direction of the Agricultural Marketing Service, an arm of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman, in launching the act, stated that "when consumers see the USDA national organic seal on products, they will know that the products labeled organic will be consistent across the country.”

The seal tells consumers that the product is at least 95% organic. An organic claim can be made such as "made with organic olives", if 70-95 percent of the ingredients are organic but the seal cannot be displayed.

Veneman noted that the USDA makes no claims that organically produced food is safer or more nutritious than conventionally produced food. The USDA website defines organic food as, "produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; petroleum- based fertilizers or sewage sludge-based fertilizers; bio-engineering; or ionizing radiation."

U.S. organic farmland has increased from approximately 1.4 to 2.4 million acres. About 180-thousand acres of organic crops are grown in California which represents two-thirds of the nation's organic fruits and vegetables. According to USDA sources, US consumers bought $7.8 billion of organic foods in 2000, representing a steady 20 - 25 percent yearly growth.

Organic farming has been encouraged by other recent federal legislation. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 was signed by President Bush on May 13, 2002 and includes $15 million for research in organic agriculture and $5 million in organic certification cost-share.

Organic producers must be certified by a state organic program (SOP) or an independent certifying agent. Below are California certifying agents:

California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)
California Crop Improvement Association
California Organic Farmers Association
Marin County
Monterey County Certified Organic

Foreign agricultural importers may find information on labeling at the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service website   USDA-FAS maintains a database of organic and natural products for international companies and also for domestic suppliers.  U.S. suppliers of organic olive oil would do well to get listed.

COOC October Members Meeting

This October Roberto Zecca once again hosted the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) general members meeting at his Frantoio restaurant and olive mill in Mill Valley. Olives were being crushed by the stone mill into a fine paste, lending their pungent scent to the proceedings. Members dined on salmon and pasta and sipped donated wines.

President Albert Katz opened the meeting and introduced the tasting panel, board members and welcomed back Paul Vossen from his sabbatical to Spain and recent trip to Australia. He congratulated Patty Darragh on her promotion to executive director. Plans for a memorial grove for Lila Jaeger were elaborated.

Board member Greg Reisinger presented the pioneering award to Paul Vossen for his efforts in getting the California olive oil industry restarted.

Past president Roberto Zecca spoke about the COOC tasting panel, their long trip to certification and how they are one of only 38 approved tasting panels in the world.

Bill Wolfe spoke about the olive fly. The olive fly committee of the COOC has a plot in Fremont where different fly deterrents are being tested. He acknowledged Adin Hester as a key liaison with farmers.

Bill spoke of two phases in the long term plan for fly control. In the first phase $250,000 in grants for fly abatement has been used to purchase a database and track the fly as is done in Europe. The second phase will involve bringing wasps from Africa and other parasites to prey on the fly.

For the short term, a lobbyist has been hired to get kill traps approved for general and possible organic use by February. Under section 18 back yard growers will not have access to this option. Olive Fly is now classified as a class C pest. The committee is hoping to get it reclassified as class A to force county agricultural commissioners to take action.  So far this threat to the olive and olive oil industry’s measly $100 million in farm revenues has not caught the attention of state and federal agencies and politicians. (Compare to the grape industry which generates $2.8 billion in sales along with $10 billion in wine sales and you can see why the glassy winged sharpshooter gets more attention.)

Spinosad has worked well when used early, frequently and according to instructions. Dow has removed some of the components of Spinosad in an attempt to get it certified for organic crops. An olive fly information day will be held March 2, 2003, place to be determined.

Paul Vossen spoke about abatement methods in Spain. He passed out a diagram of a simple organic trap which can be made from a recycled plastic. This trap has been found to be very effective in Spain at a density of 8-10 per hectare. It has kept infestation below 10% in areas where 100% infestation would be expected without it. The bottles are baited with a weak ammonia solution. If better than 3% infestation is noted, as counted by stings to the fruit, then more bottles are placed and pheromones may be added to the solution.

Changing gears, Paul spoke about the Australian oil market. Next year Australia will be making 3000 tons of oil, roughly 1% of the extra virgin olive oil in the world market. This is a remarkable statistic considering the state of their industry a decade ago. In the next 4 years he predicts that Australia will be making four to five percent of the extra virgin olive oil in the world. In Spain only 20 – 25% of the oil produced qualifies as extra virgin, versus nearly 100% of oil in Australia.

Paul predicted that California will never be a competitive producer of olive oil unless it adopts modern high density planting techniques. He used the California Olive Ranch as a model. 365,000 trees are planted on 500 acres in a 4x12 ft spacing grid.
 

Creagri completes $8.3 million Series A Financing

Hayward, CA - CreAgri, Inc., a nutraceutical company focused on the discovery and development of antioxidant polyphenols from the pulp of olives, today announced that it has raised $8.3 million in its first round of venture financing.  The Series A round was led by Burrill & Company, a San Francisco -based live sciences merchant bank and other venture capital firms.

Dr. Roberto Crea, Chairman, Chief Scientist and Founder of the company commented, "This financing will provide CreAgri with both the financial resources and potential corporate relationships to develop a range of scientifically driven applications for its antioxidant-based products for various industries worldwide."

Added Roger Wyse, Ph.D. and Managing Director of Burrill & Company's Nutraceuticals business, "CreAgri's product comes from the pulp of depitted organic olives in an elegantly simple manner and the emerging scientific evidence for the importance of antioxidants in many health conditions combine to make this an exciting new company."

CreAgri, Inc. is a four year old company which was founded to pursue the use of proprietary technology to redefine practices in the olive oil industry.  They championed the practice of depitting olives before starting the oil extraction process in a attempt to achieve a less bitter olive oil.  The company has since focused on the recovery of the water by-product produced during the olive oil extraction as a unique source of natural antioxidants (polyphenols).  In the past two years the company has received three U.S. patents on its proprietary process and composition. CreAgri is committed to a high scientific standard to drive the applications of its antioxidant products in the supplement (Olivenol^TM) and in the ingredient market (Hidrox^TM).