posted by PHILEOS EVOO on April 8, 2024
This past Saturday I was doing my weekend grocery shopping at my favourite food spot which also happens to be a retail partner who stocks my Phileos. As I was browsing the Olive Oil section of the store which I always do (I'm in the olive oil business of course) I was struck by what I saw. As I was checking out all of the olive oils stocked in the section I realized that none of the "high quality" olive oils had a production date with the exception of my precious Phileos of Sparta. Could this be? They only had a best before date "BBD). To make it worse, many of these inferior oils were priced higher than Phileos; an olive oil that ranks in the 97th percentile of all Extra Virgin Olive Oils manufactured throughout the world.
Below are 5 Extra Virgin Olive Oils brands that I randomly pulled off the shelf to inspect on my Saturday grocery trip to the supermarket. I was shocked at what I noticed. The majority of them had a "BBD" and not a "production date". Moreover, some of them didn't even have either on their packaging labels. Notice the difference in labelling between Phileos of Sparta above and the other brands below?
How do you know how old the oil is? The best before date is usually between 9 and 24 months from the date of bottling. This practice establishes the period of time in which the olive oil maintains its flavour. Although it is absolutely safe to consume olive oil after the best before date, from that point on the manufacturer does not guarantee that the product will maintain its full organoleptic properties as they were at the time of the bottling. This is a no, no for us and truly separates the real high quality olive oil manufacturers from the pretenders. Not a practice PHILEOS EVOO condones or undertakes. You see, there a number of questions that come to mind for me when "so-called' quality producers do this type of thing. When was the olive oil bottled? In 2021, 2022, 2023? This matters as organoleptic attributes and health benefits degrade over time. Is the oil authentic? What is its country of origin? Is the oil sourced from multiple producers and countries? And finally, why wouldn't the producer of the olive oil include the production date on their packaging? The reason is that the producer has packed oils from different harvest dates/periods which can mean different months and/or even years. With Phileos of Sparta, you will never have any doubt! We provide the production date and best best before dates on all of our Premium extra virgin olive oils.
Therefore, I would steer clear of these brands who do this thing as should you! If you are going to spend your hard earned money on an extra virgin olive oil you should do so on a brand such as Phileos of Sparta that only sells oil that is superior, fresh and authentic.
As a general rule and best practice, the world's leading international olive oil standards councils state "best before date (BBD)" should not be more than 2 years from bottling. This is a something that Phileos strictly adheres to. These should all be red flags for consumers who want to spend their precious dollars on a high quality EVOO, especially in these times of record high world olive oil prices.
Consumers should not select olive oils with a production/harvest date more than 18 months (some would argue 12 months to 24 months). Phileos only bottles our EVOO when orders are received. In the meantime, we store the olive oil immediately after harvest in our stainless steel tanks with nitrogen pumped in. This maintains the peak freshness and quality of Phileos protecting it from light, oxygen and heat- the biggest enemies to olive oil. Other producers, or so-called "family estates" or "single estates" may store the harvested oil on the mill floor for months at a time before they ship it out.
Next time you're shopping make sure to pick up some Premium Phileos of Sparta Extra Virgin Olive oil. If you can't find it in the store, then visit our online siTe. You won't regret it. I promise!