The California Olive Oil
Council, which represents
nearly 90% of olive oil
production in the state,
estimates that 8,000-
10,000 new acres of olive
groves will be planted each
year through 2020.
California Olive Oil Council
young compared with that of California’s
winemakers, but it’s making some notable
strides. There are approximately 25,000
acres of olives producing 1.1 million
gallons of oil. At the same time, scientists
have been working on mechanical
harvesting systems to help lower hand-labor costs. Add in good weather and an
increase in mature acreage, and you have
the right mix for a substantial boost in olive
oil production.
That bumper crop also meant bragging
rights now belong to California growers.
“This winter, we surpassed France in olive oil
production for the first time,” says Patricia
Darragh, executive director of the California
Olive Oil Council (COOC), Berkeley, Calif.,
which represents nearly 90% of the olive
oil production in the state. And the news for
domestic olive oil lovers continues to get
better. Darragh estimates that 8,000-10,000
new acres of olive groves will be planted
each year through 2020.
effect. The standards replace those first
set in 1948, and will specifically define the
different grades of olive oil, pushing for
consistency in industry terms, which affects
both importers and domestic growers.
Although voluntary, the standards are akin
to what Vermont has in place to protect
the state’s signature maple syrup product,
which also provides the teeth needed to
strictly define what can and cannot be
labeled “maple.”
“Last year’s growing season was terrible,
but this year, it was a monster crop, which
is wonderful,” says Antoinette Addison,
owner of Figueroa Farms in the Santa
Ynez Valley. “That allows us to pick and
choose between oils to make blends,
and we’ll have a lot more flexibility than in
previous years.”
SETTING STANDARDS
Domestic growth comes at an opportune
time. The worldwide olive oil industry
has continued to come under attack for
fraud and quality issues. For example,
in March, Italian police seized 54,000
liters of Spanish olive oil that was being
passed off as Italian-grown. So serious
has the problem become that in October
2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) new voluntary standards came into
“The absence of federal standards allowed
a flood of mislabeled oils and misleading
claims,” says Darragh. “The new USDA
standard is voluntary, but important. It serves
notice to unscrupulous importers that we
have federal standards, which means the
grading and testing infrastructure can be
built. It provides the olive oil industry with the
legal reference for government agencies
that want to take legal action, and we think
that’s very important.”
