The harvest and production of olive oil can be a mystical thing — it’s something that’s done in a far off country (often the Mediterranean or South America) and you can’t get the inside look that you want to.

We all want to stand in the fields while the olives are being harvested, brought to the mill and turned into olive oil. Of course we do! It’s a fascinating process.

If you’re you’re curious about the olive oil production process, these three videos will give you an inside look at the harvesting, production and pressing process. To top it off, some of these shots are absolutely beautiful, and will inspire you to want to use olive oil, if you’re not using it already!

High quality, non-GMO and organic oils are in high demand right now. 

If you use natural or specialty oils as a bulk ingredient in your manufacturing, you already are well aware.  You may even be feeling the market pressure.  Perhaps, even, you've wondered what other non-gmo or organic bulk oils you could be using as an alternative.  

Today we're going to focus on price-- always the giant elephant in the room.  Here's how the pricing of some of the most common healthy, non-GMO or organic oils compares: Extra Virgin vs. Safflower & Sunflower Oil (see graph with actual prices below).

Curious how Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made? Follow this simple production flow diagram below for EVOO.

Did you know that there is both Organic Extra Virgin and an Organic Virgin Olive Oil? Just like there is a regular Extra Virgin and regular Virgin Olive Oil, each of these oils are also available in an organic version.

Interestingly though, you won’t find Organic Virgin Olive Oil very many places in the US. That’s because there’s not much of it that is produced, nor is it often demanded by customers. It’s just not that readily available. So why is that?

Imported olive oil versus its domestic counterpart seems to be an ever growing debate in the olive oil industry here in the US.  

Many manufacturers wonder if they should be using a US-grown olive oil, or if they will need to rely on imported olive oil to fulfill their needs.  The answer lies in looking closely at domestic olive oil-- both the wonderful traits of the oil itself and the US olive oil industry as a whole.  

With the rise of gourmet olive oil retailers and the growing concern about oil adulteration, a turn towards domestic sources (read: high quality oil, from trusted suppliers close to home) is a natural one.  But for the manufacturing industry specifically, there are inherent challenges that would emerge by relying on only US sources for oil.

As you probably know by now, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a natural product. In fact, it’s more like a fruit juice than a typical seed oil. It’s squeezed directly from olives which have been picked and crushed into a paste. 

In fact, it’s not unlike how apple cider or other fruit juices are made. If you’ve ever been to an apple orchard, the growing and extraction process is quite similar. Fruit is slow grown throughout the season and harvested at the ideal time of the year. Any farmer would agree, the growing anything is more of an art than a science. And there’s many factors that can affect the the fruit as it develops. On top of that, the cider is going to taste like the apples that it came from.

Phew!  What a confusing industry olive oil is! There's so many grade names and terms to know, to really understand what you're getting when you buy olive oil. My goal is to spell these out as clearly as possible for you, so that you can get exactly what you're looking for. Today, we’re going to concentrate on Extra Virgin and Virgin Olive Oil.

These two terms, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Virgin Olive Oil are so close to each other. They each describe a particular grade (or quality) of oil. I suppose it's logical that they're so close in name, because the quality of oil is so similar as well.  These grades are more like sisters than distant cousins. Let's discuss the similarities between these two oils first.

If you go into the grocery store and walk down the olive oil aisle, you're going to find many different names on the bottles.  Names like Pure Olive Oil, Extra Virgin, Virgin Olive Oil and Light Tasting Oil. It’s true, the olive oil industry can be so confusing! Our goal here is to spell out the differences as simply as possible, so that you know what you’re buying.

What do these names on the label actually mean?

The two most common names that you’re going to find on that olive oil bottle from the grocery store will be Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil. Most people outside of the industry don't really know this, but these are the names for the different grades of olive oil which correspond to their quality and whether they been refined or not.

There are plenty of reasons why you might want to include Extra Virgin Olive Oil in your product’s recipe. But reasons why you might not want to? Let’s review.

1.  It has too much flavor

Olive oil has a delicious flavor to it. It is a fresh squeezed fruit juice, made from olives. And therefore, it tastes like olives (not like that can of black olives that you just opened for taco night; more of a light, fresh green olive aroma… like the smell of fresh cut grass in the summer). Of course, each variety of olives tastes different so some flavors are softer and more delicate than others. But if you take a sip of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, you will taste something.

For those that used Extra Virgin Olive Oil when they first started making their product, that flavor is a vital ingredient. But for those that want to replace a lighter oil like Soybean or Canola with olive oil, it can change the flavor of the finished product just slightly. Your R&D department will agree, that final flavor is a vital factor in your finished product-- it’s that taste that your customers have come to love. If you can’t have the taste of your final product changed by Extra Virgin Olive Oil, consider Refined Olive Oil that has a lighter flavor.