Supermarket shelves are lined with extra virgin olive oils at various price points.
“Why is there such a price difference when they are all extra virgin?”
Have you ever wondered about that?
Of course, price differences can arise from corporate efforts and sales strategies. However, the more you learn about the global olive oil market, the more you realize that you need to consider the reasons behind extremely cheap extra virgin olive oil at least once.
In fact, extra virgin olive oil is known as one of the foods most susceptible to food fraud in the world. Because it has high market value but its quality and authenticity are difficult to judge by appearance alone, it has long been a subject of research and regulation regarding food fraud.
The oil’s color, viscosity, and aroma cannot be judged by appearance. You also cannot tell if it has been
adulterated. It is also actually difficult to know the place of production.
There are many cases where the country of production, blending, bottling, and sale differ, and fraud regarding the place of origin or grade is also likely to occur. That is precisely why knowledge to choose the real thing is required.
Why can’t the real thing be sold cheaply?
It takes more time and effort than you might imagine to produce a single bottle of extra virgin olive oil.
Olive trees are pruned throughout the year, the soil is managed, and they are protected from pests and diseases. During the harvest season, each fruit is harvested at the optimal time while assessing its maturity, and it is transported to the mill within hours to ensure quality is not lost.
It is extremely difficult to choose oil based on appearance alone.
After extraction, the oil is stored in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks to protect it from oxygen, light, and heat, and then bottled in light-shielding containers to be delivered to countries around the world.
Furthermore, many processes are added before it reaches Japan, including sea transport, customs clearance, quality control, and import/storage.
In other words, authentic extra virgin olive oil only reaches our tables thanks to the year-round efforts of producers and the careful work of many people.
If an oil that has gone through all these processes is being sold at a price far from the global market rate, I think it is very important to stop and consider, “Why is that price possible?”
Olive oil is an agricultural product.
How is food fraud carried out?
There are various forms of food fraud.
The methods are by no means limited to one; they include mixing in refined olive oil or olive pomace oil, blending in cheap vegetable oils such as sunflower or rapeseed oil, and even mislabeling the place of origin or quality grade.
Of course, analytical technology has advanced significantly today, and strict quality control is carried out by the International Olive Council (IOC) and inspection agencies in each country.
However, as a product with high value, it is not easy to completely eliminate fraud.
That is precisely why we, as consumers, are living in an era where we are required to have an ‘eye for discerning the real thing’.
Not all inexpensive products are fake.
There is something I do not want you to misunderstand here.
Not all products with low prices are fake.
Prices can drop due to bumper crops, inventory adjustments, or corporate sales strategies.
However, when considering the global market price and production costs of extra virgin olive oil, it is important to have an attitude of wanting to know the background behind products that are so cheap they make you wonder, ‘Why is it this price?’
Is the producer’s name written on the label?
Is the origin clear?
Are the harvest year and pressing date indicated?
Knowing the thoughts and intentions behind how the oil was made is an important clue to discerning its quality.
The reason I continue to visit production areas
I have visited numerous olive farms and oil mills in Spain and Portugal, and have had repeated direct conversations with the producers.
I have walked the fields, looked at the trees, touched the soil, and listened to the struggles of the harvest and the climate of that year, all while verifying the quality with my own eyes.
What I want to deliver is not just ‘olive oil’.
I am looking for oil where every step of the production process can be verified
Beyond a single bottle lies the pride of the producer, the history of the land, the inherited culture, and the Mediterranean lifestyle itself.
There is value that cannot be seen by price alone.
The real thing is not about ‘whether it is cheap or expensive,’ but about knowing ‘who made it, where, and with what intentions’.
What Vita Mediterranea wants to convey
I believe that choosing the real thing enriches one’s life.
Food does not just build our bodies.
By engaging with the culture, history, and the passion of the people behind it, it also enriches our hearts.
That is why I want to choose a bottle where I can see the face of the producer.
I want to deliver a bottle that lets you feel the breeze of that land and taste its culture.
That is the “culture of savoring life” that Vita Mediterranea aims for.
Choosing a bottle of extra virgin olive oil is not simply about buying oil.
Through that one bottle, you are also supporting the integrity of the producer and connecting authentic culture to the future.