10 Jul
San Benito 2013 Olive Festival
HOLLISTER, CA — For the first time in the culinary history of this region, a select group of the nation’s most celebrated food and wine producers will play host to visitors at a world-class gourmet celebration. The First Annual San Benito Olive Festival will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013 from 11am – 5 pm at the historic Paicines Ranch, located just 12 miles south of Hollister.
12 Sep
first Israeli olive pit spitting competition
Contestants at Israel's Kibbutz Givat Brenner sent olive pits flying in a new fun competition.
For the first time in Israel, contestants had a chance to break the world olive-pit spitting record (21.20 meters, or 96.5 feet).
Israel´s first olive-pit spitting contest, organized in February under the auspices of the International Federation of Pit Spitting, attracted both tourists and Israelis, each of whom got three tries. The clear winner was (drum roll, please) Itzhak Hazan with a 10.9-meter (35.7-foot) spit.
13 Aug
Preserve Summer Herbs by freezing them in Olive Oil
26 Oct
Australian Olive industry attacks Coles and Woolworths over labelling
Coles and Woolworths are resisting pressure to comply with recommended labelling standards for extra virgin olive oil.
The new guidelines were introduced this year to reduce the amount of refined oils being sold as 'premium' or 'extra light'.
President of the Australian Olive Association, Paul Miller, says Aldi supermarkets are already using the standards.
"What concerns me is the fight between the duopoly they've taken olive oil and turned it into a weapon between them as one of the products that they're slashing the price of, just to try and get people in the stores," he said.
"I think it's actually damaging the category as much as anything else."
"It's a bit of a slow process. They're arguing that their systems take time. They're also concerned that when there are changes, in particular categories, it may put consumers off.
"But Aldi Europe uses exactly the same process that is in the Australian standard to authenticate its olive oils and Aldi Australia is doing exactly the same thing."
[Source]
25 Oct
U.S. Customs finds olive fruit flies in San Diego
Olive fruit fly larvae were found on fresh olives that a passenger from Lebanon was trying to carry into San Diego International Airport, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday.
Agriculture specialists working at the airport on Oct. 4 found several olive fruit fly larvae on almost nine pounds of fresh olives that were packed inside the passenger's baggage. Travelers are prohibited from bringing olives from Lebanon into the United States.
Dawn Nielsen, deputy agricultural commissioner in San Diego County, said that the olive fly has already infested most of the state —- particularly the Central California region, where a commercially viable industry remains.
San Diego County first saw olive fruit flies in the late 1990s. "We found one or two in 1999, and by the end of the year we found hundreds in our traps," Nielsen said.
She said the olive industry once was vibrant more than half a century ago, but has since become a "hobbyist" crop for some growers interested in making olive oil.
"In San Diego County, this pest is already here, but the commercial crop is limited," Nielsen said. "Had this been a pest that we didn't have, and nobody had caught it, it could have been devastating."
Olive fruit flies feed exclusively on olives, and are a serious pest of cultivated olives in most countries around the Mediterranean Sea. According to the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Pest Notes, the flies were first detected in California in 1998 and are now found in all olive-growing areas of the state.
The larvae of the olive fruit fly feed inside the fruit, destroying the pulp and rendering the fruit susceptible to secondary bacterial and fungal infections that rot the fruit.
[source]