The GOODS from The Olive Oil Merchant

Kelowna, BC | Envelope please? And the winner is…(drum roll). Yes, Extra Virgin Olive Oil has its own version of the Academy Awards, but unlike most other competitions that look at a selection of oils from a limited geographical area, Flos Olei – the guide to the world’s best extra virgin – takes a global perspective including olive oil from 42 producing countries! Flos Olei not only awards the top of the top in a variety of categories, it also ranks the oils (all 624 of them) giving them a score out of 100 based on the panel’s olfactory, taste and visual assessment.

And so…back to that envelope. Three of our farms have been awarded “Top 20 Status”. See which ones they are after the jump…

Librandi Organic (Calabria) – 97/100 and Olive Oil Mill of the Year 2011!!!!
Bonamini (Veneto) – 92/100 and Best DOP EVOO in the Delicate category
Frantoio Franci (Tuscany) – 97/100 and Best Blended EVOO in the Intense category

For our other farms, it was more than just a pleasure to be nominated… their scores are fantastic!
Torretta (Campania) – 96/100
La Collina (Le Marche) – 89/100 *
Ranchino (Umbria) – 90/100
Tenuta Rasciatano (Apulia) – 88/100
DeCarlo (Apulia) – 94/100

We are very excited and proud that our farms have performed so well this year. And we are equally excited to welcome the arrival of our new harvest oils in just a few week’s time including products from all the above as well as some *new additions to the Olive Oil Merchant family!

About The Olive Oil Merchant

The Olive Oil Merchant is an Okanagan based importer of Italian specialty foods focused primarily on Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Why only extra virgin?  Because its the only grade of olive oil that speaks.  It expresses its olive variety and the age of the trees.  The ground underneath and its irrigation.  It provides clues about harvesting techniques, and the care of the olives before milling.  You can detect the millers dedication and artistry, faint notes touching on the land, its region, the country of origin and the centuries of tradition and know-how behind this famed oil.

In Italy alone there are over 700 different types of olive cultivars resulting in thousands of different olive oils. Like wine, each oil has its own flavour and personality. A cooking staple, with unsurpassed health benefits, the right olive oil can also offer a little moment of beauty when it is matched with the right food.

We believe that whether you live in Vancouver or Vanderhoof, Port Coquitlam or Port Hardy, Kelowna or the Kootenays, British Columbians should have access to high quality, pure and natural specialty foods at fair prices. Each product with the Olive Oil Merchant portfolio has been hand-selected based on carefully crafted criteria: all are award-winning, artisan, 100% Italian and not previously available in Canada. The majority come from small family run businesses much like our own.

While the Canadian government doesn’t enforce EU regulations that were created to protect consumers from fraud, The Olive Oil Merchant does. All products indicate the origin of the olives down to the actual grove, a best-before date and a bin number so that products can be traced.

The Olive Oil Merchant provides wholesale service to restaurants, markets and caterers throughout British Columbia and retails via the webstore www.oliveoilmerchant.com across Canada.