Ultra Premium (UP) EVOO Standard

Congratulations. It would appear you are working diligently to make great oil. You may not be aware, but to put the record straight. The UPEVOO published are the MINIMUM STANDARD FOR THE UPEVOO GRADE. The average score for each of the oils we market are far higher. Example: The Average FFA for all oils we certify as UPEVOO is .19. The average PV is 4.5, the average DAG score is 94 , in each case the average is far better than the MINIMUM requirement. In addition, we feel strongly that the PPH count (cafeic method) and DAG score are very reliable tools that should be part of the world standards because of the rampant fraud and common practice of mixing lower quality, often from the previuos harvest with fresher high quality oil. We knew that there would be some very small percentage of oils that would, like yours, pass most or all of the parameters with flying colors but fail one parameter so we were generous especially in the case of FFA @ .3. We have never found an oil that had an FFA above .34 that also had a DAG score above 90. There are other stringent requirements including two independent laboratory analysis and a third party sensory panel test required with lot numbers and number of kg and or tons. We are gratified that you find the UP standards worthy of comparison and sincerely hope that other producers intent on making high quality olive oil will follow suit. The struggle is formidable. The established forces and marketing organizations work very hard to keep the standards for the EVOO very low and as a consequence, (I am certain I am not telling you anything you don’t already know in this) there is a river of very low quality, (when compared to oils that meet or exceed the UP standard) that gets the same grade. The economic effect is to penalize producers like yourself for making great oil. I am sure you are well aware of the difference in cost when harvesting early in terms of yield and the process in general. Our goal has and will remain to educate consumers to the basic facts that all serious producers of olive oil know but don’t share. We believe by educating the consumer they will be in a much better position to appreciate the difference in quality in the overly broad antiquatied grading system that has remained virtually unchanged in the last century. (the only caveat being the concession a few years back made by the IOC lowering the allowable FFA from 1% to .8%. Also, for the record, we have tested and tasted thousands of so called Extra Virgin olive oils and have never found one that was NOT defective when the FFA was above.6 at harvest or with a PV above 12 at harvest. This is why we created the UP category. The cost to produce high-quality extra virgin is significantly higher but consumers have no way of knowing that not only does HQ cost more to make, it also has a longer shelf life, more nutrition, more health benefits, and more flavor. So, once again, sincere congratulations on your efforts. It appears to me that we have a lot in common. Regards, Michael Bradley