April Production Data For Spanish Olive Oil
The website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food has released final production figures for the 2006-2007 crop season, alongside sales numbers for the month of April & various other data. All figures are in metric tons.
As is evident, sales volume has come to a complete halt – at season-low prices – during the month of May, whereas stocks are at a very high level with respect to past years. With domestic consumption up 9% from 2006 and exports moving out at 6% above their four-year average, it would be evident that this stalemate between producers and bottlers cannot go on forever.
[Source] Click Here
Posted in Business, Europe | U.K, Olive Oil by: Henry Mackay
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The Olive – A Tree Of History
The olive is possibly the oldest cultivated tree in the world. It is believed that people in the Mediterranean region were cultivating olive trees before written language was properly developed.
Certainly the ancient Egyptians had olive groves. From at least the time of Ramses II (1179 – 1165 BC),olive oil from the many groves aorund Heliopolis was being used to light the temple lamps. An inscription in one of the temples dedicated to the Sun God Ra tells us that this was so.
The Christian Bible mentions the olive in several places. It refers to the olive tree as “the tree of life,” and also as “the king of trees.” Noah, who survived the great flood in the ark, sent out a dove to see if there was any dry land. Eventually, the dove returned with an olive branch.
The Romans prized olive oil for its versatility. They used it as a sacred oil in religious rituals, as a healing ointment, and as a food source. The victors of Roman battles were often crowned with olive wreaths.
The city of Athens in Greece, according to legend, gained its name from the Athena, goddess of peace and wisdom. She was involved in a dispute with Poseiden, god of the ocean, about which of them would lend their name to the new city built in the land of Attica. A decision was made that the one who offered the most precious gift to the people of the city would have the honor.
Poseidon struck his trident into a rock, which caused copious amounts of salt to flow out. Salt is indeed a precious gift to any people. Athena plunged her spear into the ground. The spear became an olive tree, which lived for centuries and gave precious fruit to the people. It was decided that the olive tree was the more precious, so the city became known as Athens. In fact, legend has it that all the trees in Greece are descended from that first tree given by Athena.
People in any place in any time will only honor something if it is of great value to them. The many mentions of olives and the olive tree in history clearly indicates its value to the people in early times. Nothing much has changed. Today we have industrialized the harvesting of olives to a certain extent, and their popularity has spread all over the world. But the olive and olive oil has changed not one bit. It is still a good as it always was, and as good as it always will be.
Posted in Articles, Olive Oil, Olive Tree by: Olive101
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Transparent Oil
First printed in La Stampa,
Adapted by Ronnie Richards,
Spring is a time of year when new products and initiatives prompt us to also examine the health of the extravirgin olive oil sector. Rankings, competitions and industry publications help to create a picture of the situation. Considerable political, media and market attention is focused on quality Italian extra virgin olive oil, but it is not always directed in the right direction to effectively promote the product.
It is a complex sector. Those involved have very disparate interests and objectives: they range from large companies to bottlers, cooperatives to oil millers, down to small growers who cultivate their own olives and take them to be crushed by others.
For many years Slow Food has not supported specific industries so much as promoted a distinct production approach—one which tends to control the production chain, observes environmental sustainability and focuses on the local area. We strongly advocate that Italian extra virgin oil must meet specific traceability and genuineness criteria if it is to be an internationally successful exponent of Italian excellence.
Posted in Europe | U.K, Olive Oil by: Olives101
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Olive oil origin rules just the start, Italy hopes
By Robin Pomeroy,
ROME, May 30 (Reuters) – Italy, which is pushing the European Union to accept that olive oil bottles should state the true origin of their contents, hopes to extend the idea to other globally traded food products, its farm minister said.
In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Paolo De Castro said he was optimistic the EU Commission would accept his plan to force all olive oil sold in Italy to be labelled with the country in which the olives were grown and pressed.
De Castro’s bill is supported by Italy’s olive producers, who say oil blenders cash in on the image of Italian quality food even though most brands of “Italian” olive oil contain only a small proportion of product from Italian olives. Italy exports 914 million euros ($1.23 billion) of virgin and extra virgin oil each year. The blending industry says the new rules would be complicated and expensive, something De Castro disputes.
Posted in Europe | U.K, Olive Oil by: Olives101
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Olive Oil, Lowering Blood Pressure
High blood pressure has been called the silent killer. If you have high blood pressure, you may not know it unless you’ve been checked recently. Outwardly you will most likely feel fine and function normally. But at the time the condition could be working against you – all without you knowing.
Sure, there are tablets that the doctor can prescribe, and exercising works fine too. But have you considered olive oil as a major part of you normal diet? You should.
Experts are unsure of how oilive oil works to reduce blood pressure, but one possible reason is through its high content of polyphenol. This is a substance that works as a potent antioxident, which helps the artery channels to dilate. This has the effect of allowing the blood to flow more freely and less constricted, lowering the pressure.
From 100 grams of extra virgin olive oil you will find 50 milligrams of polyphenol. By comparison, sunflower oil contains absolutely no polyphenol whatsoever. So if you are one of those people who think that cooking oil is just cooking oil, and it makes no difference which is used, think again!
Next time you’re out shopping, choose the extra virgin olive oil instead of the vegetable oil. It’s healthier, and you’ll reduce your high blood pressure too.
Posted in Health by: Olive101
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