In honor of the last blog post of 2016, these are the top 10 articles of the last year. The blog posts below are listed by popularity, from most to least. Learn about olive oil grades and calculations, along with sunflower oil, coconut oil and goal-setting advice for purchasing teams.
Happy reading, and happy holidays while we're at it!
Olive Pomace Oil: Good or Bad?
Olive Pomace Oil is a much debated topic in today’s increasingly health-focused food industry. Is olive pomace oil good or is it bad?
Before you make any final decisions either way, you should look at both sides of the debate. Understanding the pros and cons of olive pomace oil will help you make a decision that’s right for your product.
As always, it’s also helpful to survey your target market to see if they have any strong feelings either way about this ingredient. It will affect your marketing as well as your procurement search process… [READ MORE]
The Ultimate List of Olive Oil Conversions & Calculations
It can be confusing to get pricing from so many different suppliers for bulk oils. Each offers their pricing in different units: US suppliers give pricing in pounds or gallons, european suppliers give pricing in metric tons (MT), liters or kilograms.
Converting the metric to the english system (or vice versa) can be confusing-- any middle schooler will agree with you on this. Especially when your bulk olive oil prices depend on accurate calculations.
That’s why we’ve created a set of conversion standards for you, so that you can convert all of the weights you receive quickly and simply. This will help you convert your pricing into many different forms so that you can accurately compare options across the board… [READ MORE]
How To Set Goals For Yourself and Your Purchasing Department for 2016
Last year, I ran a half marathon. But I didn’t just go out and do it. I made a 16 week plan of the runs that I was going to do every day, and how I was going to build up to my 13.1 mile finish.
Professional goals are no different than personal goals like these, but professional goal setting often falls by the wayside. It’s important do strategic goal setting, both for your job and for your department -- especially if you manage other people.
Your professional goals also need a plan-- a course of action, or a list of small daily steps you’re going to take to help accomplish these goals. Here’s how to plan for improvement in 2015… [READ MORE]
Organic Olive Oil vs. Non Organic
Many consumers wonder what the differences are between Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The difference in price is reasonably large between these two types of oil, but are they really all that different?
The simplest answer is no, they should be almost the exact same oil. Because they’re both the olive oil grade “Extra Virgin” they both are made from the first press (or spin) of the olives. They both have the same requirements for acidity, chemical make up and sensory tests that allow them to be called Extra Virgin. The primary difference is that one is produced using Certified Organic olives, and the other is not… [READ MORE]
4 Reasons Why Buying Olive Oil from Costco May Be Cheaper Than Bulk
If you’re buying bulk olive oil for your small business, you may be buying it “wholesale” from a superstore like Costco or Sam’s Club. You probably want to save money on these raw ingredients and (if you haven't already) you will at some point look into buying bulk quantities rather than wholesale.
Surprisingly for many small businesses, sometimes buying in bulk does not save money. We're going to review why, and how much oil you need to be using to think about buying in bulk… [READ MORE]
The 7 Most Recommended Purchasing & Procurement Books For Manufacturers
Professional development is about always learning and growing in your role.
Education allows you to improve, and can help achieve your goals the job that you’re already in. It also sets you up to have a better chance at promotions in the future.
Education comes in many forms though. Once in a steady career, classroom education becomes less of a norm, as self-directed learning takes its place. While self-directed learning can mean many things, like webinars, seminars, industry conferences, etc., reading industry books is one of my favorite tools.
Books are great way to stay on top of your self-training all year round and direct your own growth.
The 7 titles below are top rated procurement and purchasing books available on Amazon, written for professionals just like yourself. [READ MORE]
The Difference Between Linoleic, Mid-Oleic and High Oleic Sunflower Oil
Sometimes, it's hard to know exactly what kind of oil going to work best. If you're in the R&D stages of a new product, you'll be faced with decisions about choosing the right bulk ingredients. Sometimes, as you begin to narrow down your search, you may be presented with more and more challenging questions.
For example, let's pretend you've been debating between Canola Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sunflower Oil for some time. You finally make the decision to go with Sunflower Oil. Unfortunately, you're immediatly presented with a new question: what kind of Sunflower Oil would you like?
Certain oils, especially seed oils, come in a few varieties. For sunflower oil, there's high oleic, mid oleic and linoleic. And as you're making your ingredient decisions, it's helpful to know the differences before you begin testing-- not after… [READ MORE]
Supply and Demand in the Coconut Oil Market
The demand for coconuts has skyrocketed in the last few years. Coconut everything can be found in the natural food market. Coconut oil, coconut sugar, coconut water. Not to mention just plain old coconuts!
At the same time, coconut producers are having a hard time keeping up. Supply on coconuts has also gone down slowly over time, which as a matter of simple economics, has driven prices up. If you are using coconut oil in your production — or even thinking about using it — here’s what you need to know… [READ MORE]
Where Is The Best Place To Buy Olive Oil In Bulk?
If you're on the search for olive oil in bulk, you may be coming up against the large confusing mass of directions for where to buy... Otherwise... known as Google.
The best way to answer the question of where to buy bulk olive oil is to define what industry your business is in and find a supplier that matches with that.
If we were sitting at a coffee shop, friend to friend, I would first ask you what you did and then I'd be able to point you to the right type of supply company.
So, I will try to do just that. I have my coffee-- pull up a chair… [READ MORE]
Purchasing Managers: How To Plan and Meet Your Goals
Setting goals is an important step to improving. There are, of course, a number of different kinds of goals. You have personal goals for your life, and you have professional goals for your job. But they’re always entangled, some taking priority over others depending on the day.
The best way to achieve all of them is to lay them out separately, prioritize them, and then make a plan for how you can achieve every one… [READ MORE]
Topics: Industry Trends
