What many people do not know, however, is that when you buy a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil with the label “Imported from Italy,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that the oil was pressed from olives grown in Italy. It means that the oil was bottled in Italy, regardless of where it was shipped from. This misleading practice has many authentic-Italian olive oil producers upset.
“It’s a con, pure and simple, like selling Gucci which isn’t Gucci, or a Rolex which isn’t a Rolex,” said Massimo Gargano, head of Unaprol, the Italian olive producers’ association, told Reuters. Unaprol estimates that only around 20 percent of “Italian” olive oil is from olives grown in Italy.”
If a bill issued by Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro passes, new labels would have to declare where the olives were grown, as well as the country in which they were pressed. Unilever, the company that owns Bertolli, says “only 25 to 30 percent of Bertolli oil is produced in Italy.” Who would’ve thought? — Laura Cimperman
For more info on olive oil, read Dream of Italy’s “Olive Oil 101” (paid subscribers only) – our favorite olive farmer Franco gives us the ins and outs of olive oil production.
If a bill issued by Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro passes, new labels would have to declare where the olives were grown, as well as the country in which they were pressed. Unilever, the company that owns Bertolli, says “only 25 to 30 percent of Bertolli oil is produced in Italy.” Who would’ve thought? — Laura Cimperman
For more info on olive oil, read Dream of Italy’s “Olive Oil 101” (paid subscribers only) – our favorite olive farmer Franco gives us the ins and outs of olive oil production.