The GOODS from The Olive Oil Merchant

Kelowna, BC | The Olive Oil Merchant turns ONE and along with 2010-2011 New Harvest Oils is bringing in new, hard to find Italian delights. I can hardly believe it has been a year since The Olive Oil Merchant webstore was launched. Our product lineup has expanded from 10 different types of EVOO to now more than 19, from Olives and Carnaroli rice to now include Tuscan wine vinegars, Umbrian Lentils, Organic Farro, Artichokes and Pomodorini not to mention 12 and 25 year old traditional Balsamic.

As from the very beginning, we continue to work closely with all of our farmers and producers choosing the products that we believe best represent and honour the traditions and authenticity of the Italian regions. That means all of the products are grown, harvested and packaged on site. That means that these artisan farmers produce very small batches and for the most part do very little to no exporting at all. That means that these products cannot be found anywhere else in Canada.

Alongside favourites like Vantera from Campania, Librandi Organic from Calabria and Tenuta Rasciatano from Apulia, new harvest oils this year include Bianchini’s Cartoceto Cuvée from Le Marche and Il Palagio from Tuscany. We are thrilled to have Il Palagio this year as it is produced in extremely small batches on Sting and Trudie Styler’s farm in Tuscany and is not available anywhere else in Canada.

We hope that foodies will be as excited as we are with our new lineup of Umbrian Lentils (Lenticchie di Castelluccio IGP), the ancient roman grain Farro (certified organic), Pedroni 25 year old Traditional Balsamic and the highly anticipated sunkissed Pomodorini in EVOO from DeCarlo.

To celebrate our birthday and to thank all of our wonderful supporters, The Olive Oil Merchant is offering 15% off all products with coupon code “1stOOMbday” valid until April 15th. All new products will be available via our webstore from today.

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.