Liquid Gold at the Farmers' Market

Joëlle Olive Oil Co. asks this question each Sunday at the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market: Why buy from Italy, when you can get high quality olive oil from us?

The truth is that most imported olive oil is not subject to the stringent regulations that apply to our California-made oil. Many, if not most imported olive oils are labeled as extra virgin—meaning the oil has been made from the first pressing of the olives—but are in fact a blend of lesser quality oils with a small percentage of extra virgin olive oil.  A recent study from UC Davis showed that 73 percent of the imported olive oils tested failed to meet international standards for extra virgin olive oil. 

Joëlle Olive Oil Co. grows olives on 40 acres in Bangor, CA, north of Sacramento, and processes the harvest into liquid gold at the end of each year. 

This award-winning vendor of finely crafted extra virgin olive oil chose to locate its only Los Angeles farmers’ market stand in Mar Vista. The company also sells its entire line of oils online and at farmers’ markets in the Santa Barbara area, where the owners of the company live.

I spoke with Colin, who works at the booth each week, to give me the lowdown on olive oil. He explained that Joëlle’s orchard consists mostly of Mission and Manzanillo trees, with some Barouni trees (a Tunisian variety with a nuttier flavor) that help fertilize the other trees. The finished product is pressed at a facility near the orchard and is tested for acidity level before it can pass inspection. 

If you aren’t convinced that Joëlle does olive oil really well, Colin can show you the certificate the company recently won: the Best of Class award at the Yolo County Fair for its lemon infused olive oil. It also carries a garlic-infused Mission olive oil. Oh think of the possibilities!

So what does Joëlle do with the rest of the oil after the first press? It hands it off to a woman in Oregon who turns it into castile soaps and salt glow products. I’m a sucker for a good bar of soap, so I tried out the Winter Spice bar over the holidays last year and fell in love with its cinnamon spicy blend. 

I once did the math to figure out how many olive trees I would need to grow in order to harvest and process enough olive oil for my husband and me for one year. The average American consumes 0.7 liters per year. We calculated our own consumption at a bit more—about 7 liters per year (what can I say, we use it for everything). Given the lowest possible harvest from a producing olive tree, we calculated that it would take 4.5 trees to produce enough olive oil for our household each year. 

Of course, the process is highly labor intensive, and some trees don’t produce every year, so we’d probably need double the amount to ensure a steady supply. Then there’s the prospect of finding a community press that can process the olives into oil for us. Sounds daunting. For now, with prices starting at $15 a bottle, the next time I need to dress a salad or toss some veggies with olive oil and seasonings for dinner, it’s much easier to pick up some at the farmers’ market from Joëlle. 

To learn more about olive oil and all that Joelle has to offer, visit its website.