Why Florida Needs More Olive Groves

Hi All,

This is why Florida needs more Olive Grove Owners.

 Spain may see as much as a 60 percent drop in olive harvest yields from last year, from 1.6 million to 700,000 tons and prices continue to rise.  Spain is currently the world's top producer of olive oil and table olives, as recognized by the International Olive Council.

In 2012 a drought and an unexpected frost during olive flowering season devastated  olive trees in Spain and as a result the harvest was much less.Greece,Italy,Turkey and Tunisia were also hit hard by the drought.

 In September 2012, The Guardian reported that wholesale prices of extra virgin olive oil had already jumped by 62 percent in anticipation of the lost harvest and supplier Filippo Berio cautioned that the company would be forced to raise prices for consumers.

It is believed that the rising costs and shortages of quality olive oil may add to the current issues of olive oil fraud. Olive oil is already being mixed with oils of less quality and then labeled and sold as extra virgin.

These companies have been found to have fraudulently labeled their product as Extra-Virgin:

Whole Foods
Rachel Ray
Safeway
Newman's Own
Colavita
Bertolli
Filippo Berio
Pompeian
Star
Carapelli
Mezzetta
Mazzola
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