Why buy at Frescolio rather than the grocery store?
True Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Some recent studies have been done to determine if the ‘extra-virgin’ olive oil being sold in grocery stores is actually extra-virgin as defined by international standards. Unfortunately for the consumer, the answer is frequently ‘no’. Many olive oils sold in grocery stores and some specialty food stores do not meet the test of being extra-virgin. There have been cases in which products labelled ‘extra-virgin olive oil’ contained only 20% olive oil, and the other 80% of the oil wasn’t even derived from olives. (For further information on these tests, please see the University of California (Davis) website.)
At Frescolio, we guarantee that our extra-virgin olive oils meet or surpass all the international standards, and we post the test results alongside our varietal olive oils in our store.
Olive Oil Freshness
It is often difficult in the grocery store environment to determine how old the contents of a bottle of olive oil are. There may be a ‘best before’ date, but you have no idea when the clock started on the ‘best before’ timing. Freshness is of enormous significance in the olive oil world, concerning taste and health benefits.
As with all fruit juices, olive oil is of course at its best immediately after it is made. The oil experiences a slow degradation from that time until about 12 – 14 months after production. After that, the degradation accelerates.
At Frescolio, you will know the age of any of our oils within a narrow range.
Tasting Bar
Perhaps the most compelling improvement from the grocery store to Frescolio is your ability to try an olive oil before deciding to buy it (you could do that in a grocery store too, but you’d want to keep an eye out for security!).
At Frescolio, we encourage you to taste any of our products before making a decision about which of them appeal to you most, and no uniformed person will insist on escorting you out the door while you are sampling.
