Straight to the source
A tour of Italy's olive oil producers illustrated the adage that a clean and natural environment produces the best quality olive oil. Ye Jun reports.
In China, people say "good mountains and good water produce great tea". The same can be said about olive oil in Italy. A clean environment helps the country produce quality olive oil, as I found on a recent tour.
The tour organizers were Veronafiere and the Consortium of Guarantee of Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVQ) in Italy. Veronafiere holds the annual Vinitaly in Verona. The tour included a visit to Vinitaly, as well as to olive farms and factories in Brindisi, Andria and Spoleto.
The first stop was Verona, known as the home of Romeo and Juliet, to attend Vinitaly, the biggest wine expo in Italy, and which has two other sections - International Exhibition of Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil (SOL) and Agrifood.
It is difficult to grasp the size and impact of the wine and olive oil industry, if one does not go there and become one of Vinitaly's 153,000 visitors.
The main countries that bought Chilean olive oil last year represent five continents. According to reports published by the ministry of the interior, the big consumers last year were the United States (49%), Italy (27%), Canada (14%), Brazil (2%),
Now the craze has come to La Jolla, with the opening of exclusive olive oil retailer We Olive, located at 1158 Prospect St. The business endeavor started with owner and managing partner Frank Mercurio's passion for olive oil — he's Italian — mixed
This number reflects gains both here and abroad, and is welcome news after a slow start to the year. ASSITOL is the Association of Italy's Oil Industry. Its members are packagers of oil, mostly olive, but also seed oils and pomace oil.
He dreamed of making a local oil that could replace his beloved Italian olive oil, and experimented with sesame oil for dressing salads. Before he ever set foot on European soil, Jefferson was already an avid wine devotee, drinking claret (red