One could write reams of info on the great Olive Oil scam that has reared its head. Without getting to deep into it, this company appears to be committing the dastardly act of honesty. To be safe, I don’t mean healthwise but maybe that also, olive oils can be multi sourced and hence mixed and end up being not what the label says it is. 100% California should mean the real deal when it says EVOO. If it it’s not single source you really don’t know what you are getting. It can even contain vegetable oil. There is much more to the subject. Once again, do your research.
P.S. Vegetable oil is not from vegetables BTW. It was originally tank lube. Yup, those tanks with guns. Some peeps with lab coats finagled with it to make it edible.
Last edited by FireMan; February 13, 2026, 05:55 PM.
Michael_in_TX That company has an huge olive grove and processes this "Global Blend" along with 100% California olives and partial California blends. My guess is that they keep up with demand by sourcing olives from other places, and it gives offerings of various flavors.
If you want to read about their sustainable farming practices, it is quite interesting. Here is an article done by CSU-Chico.
Carolyn, thanks so much for posting this about CA Olive Ranch. As a "grennie weinnie" I loved reading this and I'm sold on Regenerative farming and livestock practices. I will now support Ca
Olive Ranch by being a customer. Having lived in Mission Viejo, CA and now DFW, I am well aware of the need to conserve water. Improve the soil and you will improve your crop and that includes your lawns, after all, grass is a crop.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
If you want to really learn about the olive oil industry, among other things, I highly recommend the book “Real Food / Fake Food” by Larry Olmsted. It is eye opening, or at least was for me, and changed how I shop for items like olive oil, seafood and other things.
A few years ago, I settled on California Olive Ranch's EVOO. It was more expensive than the store-brand stuff, but less expensive (by far) than the premium stuff. I typically buy their global blend, which I think is decently flavorful (and has a wonderful slightly peppery aftertaste). I actually really like it. I tried their 100% California one, but while great....to my palette, did not justify the extra expense.
As I picked up my bottle today of my global blend, I noticed something odd. They are highlighting that it is 0% (or at least nearly such) California olive oil:
Now, remember, I live in Texas. We have kinda....an.....unofficial rivalry with California. When I first noticed this, I was like.....Wow, they sure know how to market to Texans!!
In all seriousness, it does seem a bit odd to highlight this. Does anyone know if there is something about California olive oil that is undesirable in some way?
They put the 0% California on the label to highlight that their brand name is California but this particular bottling is not oil from California. I live in California. We have many good oils here. The California brand is good and generally a good value as well. They have a bunch of oils with several labelings at various price points. I buy them frequently and I have never been disappointed.
I think the percent of California olives is probably truth in advertising as others have said.
I just checked our stock and we have the same brand but at 10% California olives. I just bought a new bottle this past week for $24.79 on sale from a regular price of $30.99
Now that is really interesting.....a 10% one. Considering the expense of creating different labels, there must be a compelling production reason to have a 0% and a 10% blend.
Really? I found the olive oil in my cabinet to be a little fruity. I don't have much of a palate, btw, so I don't know excellent from ok regarding stuff like this.
I don't have much of an opinion on olive oil, I just buy it and use it. I ran out of it today and went to HEB.com to add some to my curbside cart. Holy Moly, its gone way up! Last time it cost around $12-$13 (about a year or so ago), now it was almost $21!
I buy the 33.8 oz. Rustico di Casa Asaro Unfiltered non GMO extra virgin olive oil. It says on the label that it won a gold medal against 800 other olive oils in New York in 2016. I like it for general use and the fact that it [was] inexpensive. The description reads as follows:
"Exclusively bottled for H-E-B, the olives grown on an estate in southwestern Sicily are hand picked and pressed within hours of harvest. The estate has grown olives since 1916, with some trees that date back 500 years. The olives are the famous variety of Nocellara del Belice, full and round like the nut after which they are named. Some of the trees date back as far as 500 years, while the oldest grandfather tree on the estate is over 7 centuries old. The sweet green olive taste makes this oil great for dipping."
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Talking with some friends on the subject of Olive Oil, and it was passed along (although I've never tried to verify this) that it's best to get Olive Oil from California, as overseas there is less restrictions on what other oils can be added into the mix, and still be called "Olive Oil".
I have no idea if that's true or not, but one person (a guy who knew a guy, of course...) had traveled to Italy several times and said he saw local brands of Olive Oil that he'd never seen for sale in the US, and when he asked about it, the answer was something to the effect of, "We keep the good stuff here. Too expensive to send to America, and no one can tell the difference over there."
Like I said, this is all casual conversation, and probably suspect info, although I do find it funny that an Italian shopkeeper got a nice little dig in on the tourists, while passing along educational info!
I've cut down my Olive Oil (and oil in general) use quite a bit the last couple of years. Still use it in recipes where it's needed, but I'm typically not buying much if any these days, but when I have bought it, I go for the California-based ones.
Because well, apparently I'm easily manipulated by opinions and the people around me.
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