I like nothing more on a Sunday morning to walk down the village to my favourite coffee shop light a nice Cuban cigar and read through from cover to cover The Olive Oil Times it's a stonking good read. I came across this info below it may be of interest to local olive growers.


It's very sad but thousands of olive trees in Italy have been infected with a hostile bacteria - Xylella fastidiosa and this will result in big price increases and may be beneficial to Spanish olive growers.



http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/new-germ-killing-ancient-olive-tre...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2726119/Olive-oil-threat-bacteria-hittin...

Italy famously sells much more olive oil than it produces, buying in from Cyprus and other Med countries, they sell it mostly to gullible people in the U.K. who think it is the best because celebrity chefs have told them it is...

The Mafia were making millions from the Spanish oil sold as Italian with no risk unlike drug trafficking. I am sure it goes on both there and here. It was also mixed with all sorts of liquids very nasty.
When I was in the UK I would always buy Italian oil as it was said to be the best.I know exactly where my oil is grown and processed now in Spain with no chemicals used with the correct certificates re soil etc.

thanks for disagreeing with me, Catalanboy, and then showing absolutely no knowledge of the subject, Italy have done this for years, it is one of the best comedies in the catering industry,they market their oil, which is not THEIR oil as extra virgin, first pressing, which it rarely is, I plain can't be bothered to argue, do some research, then apologise, I will be graceful when I accept it

I did not mean blended with a lower grade olive oil we all know about that, Just as some wines are also blended this is acceptable to bring the price down for mass sales.Some grapes mixed produce an acceptable wine for an acceptable price. I was talking about the people who were adding lard and other nasties to the oil and selling it as first pressing. Remember in the UK for example some of these oils sell for £12 plus a bottle for 500ml ( Genio Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil) It's not hard to see why the Mafia saw it as a cash cow.

Any way looking at the trees next to my house it may be a good year this year if that horrid wind ceases.

Large Italian tankers queueing up outside the mill in Bitem,have been for years from a certain well advertised oil and oil spread manufacturer in Italy. Dont have the name on the tanker but it is on the number plate...........

3 years ago Spain produced 1.5 tonnes of Saffron yet somehow managed to export 40 tonnes of pure La Mancha saffron. It's selling for nothing ebay........