As many of our customer’s know, E. 48th Street Market carries fresh pressed olive oil shipped directly from a small olive grove named LeVigne Estate located in Umbria, Italy. Every year, Charlie travels to Italy during the olive harvest to hand-pick fresh olives for press specifically for the Market. Now I know that may sound a little extreme but our focus is on quality vs. quantity. Obviously, every year’s harvest is limited and that’s exactly why we always encourage our customers to pre-order their 100% extra virgin oil. As soon as we know that a fresh batch is on its way, we immediately notify our customers at the Market, on our website, Facebook, Twitter and via email. Why? Because we believe in quality and we know our customers do as well.

Fact is that really healthy olive oil you thought you were buying at your local grocery store is really not healthy at all. Even the expensive ones in the enticing bottles? Unfortunately, yes. According to Tom Mueller, the investigative author of Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, 70 percent of the extra virgin olive oil sold worldwide is watered down with other oils and enhancers. Not so virgin after all.

Earlier this month, there was a post in Forbes by contributing author Cathy Huyghe titled The Scam of Olive Oil, And Its Antidote. Take a moment to read through this great and informative post and hopefully understand why the Market is so passionate about this topic.