As a certified olive oil sommelier (yes, a real thing) I believe the UK is on the brink of an extra virgin olive oil, or EVOO, revolution. People are buying better, artisan brands are booming, restaurants are putting it front and centre, and social media is full of people showing off their morning shots of “liquid gold”. Sales of extra virgin olive oil are up at Waitrose compared to last year, and sales of organic EVOO are up even more. Plucky British growers have even succeeded at growing olives in the UK and producing the first English extra virgin olive oil (the gold standard), despite the challenging weather conditions here.
Olive oil has become so trendy that even celebrity chefs are launching their own. Gordon Ramsay has just announced Krude, a line of EVOOs and infused olive oils. They’re in tins with eye-catching labels, yes, but information such as the olive variety and harvest date are not stated — at least not on the front of the packaging. If the product is as “premium” as promised then you’d expect that basic information. Plus putting “cold-pressed” on the label is just marketing spin — the only way to make extra virgin is to cold-press it. It remains to be seen whether this olive oil is any good.
