From the academic halls of Harvard to the rural hillsides of Marin and Sonoma counties and onto the stately aisles of the California Capitol, a David-and-Goliath-type battle is brewing in the olive oil business.
Siding with small growers, Assemblywoman Cecelia Aguiar Curry, D-Winters, introduced a bill restricting when olive oil can be labeled as Californian.
“We have 400 small boutique olive oil (companies) in the state, and I want to protect the industry and the California brand,” Aguiar Curry told the Business Journal.
Assembly Bill 535, a reintroduction of last year’s AB 2074, which stalled due to the COVID-19 crisis, would mandate companies such as California Olive Ranch based in Chico with annual sales of more than $59 million, to declare what percentage their oil comes from California olives.
The bill states that it’s “unlawful to produce, process, sell, offer or possess olive oil” on a label deemed California Olive Oil “unless 100% of the oil is derived from olives are grown in California.” The proposed legislation that passed the Assembly in April heads back to the Assembly Appropriations Committee before making its way to the Senate Floor.
“I would have preferred it if (California Olive Ranch) couldn’t use (the name) California,” she said, while settling for a “compromise” that would require the company to dictate the percentage of California olives used.
The state Department of Food and Agriculture requires California olive oil to meet strict quality standards such as mandatory testing and sampling. California Olive Ranch’s brand was tested and found it to include as little as 14% California olives in its oils, Aguiar Curry pointed out.
“When you mill olives, the closest and fastest they can be milled makes for the freshest and most top quality you can get in olive oil. When the olives sit, they can get rancid,” Aguiar Curry said. “This bill will ensure that consumers know exactly what they are buying, and it will help to support our local farmers who are producing world class oils from olives grown here in our state.”
McEvoy Ranch President Samantha Dorsey supports those theories and the bill.
She told members of the California Assembly Health Committee last April that companies piggybacking off “high-value regional names” have been used in the wine industry as well. Olive trees represent the latest battleground.
“None of us are objecting to imported olive oil, and I have no desire to restrict free trade. I am just asking that the label accurately reflects what’s inside,” Dorsey told the committee, with a supportive nod to Aguiar Curry’s bill.
California Olive Ranch, which according to Dunn & Bradstreet rakes in $59.7 million in annual sales, touts on its website that it uses olives from trees stretching from Bakersfield north to Red Bluff; along with those in Argentina, Chile and Portugal. Reached several times, a company spokesperson declined to comment.
Becoming big business
With the U.S. olive oil industry’s expected value set at $16.6 billion by 2027 according to Fortune Business Insights, the stakes are high because producers have discovered olive oil has perceived health benefits.
The attraction to this industry has even involved the world of higher academics.
In October 2020, Harvard University’s $41.7 billion endowment began an investment in rich California land through an arrangement between its agricultural management company and Gladstone Land, a McLean, Va.-based property owner with more than 100 farms across the United States. It leases to California Olive Ranch.
“We would support origin labeling of any crop,” Gladstone Land Western Division Executive Vice President Bill Reiman told the Business Journal from his Camarillo office. “Our farms are here, and California has always been known for having the highest quality products.”
Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, biotech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. For 25 years, Susan has worked for a variety of publications including the North County Times, now a part of the Union Tribune in San Diego County, along with the Tahoe Daily Tribune and Lake Tahoe News. She graduated from Fullerton College. Reach her at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com