How Brexit is impacting traditional extra virgin olive oil sources and why Morocco is now a great new source for high quality extra virgin olive oil
hen people speak about olive oil and extra virgin olive oil, they tend to think Italian, Spanish, or even Greek olive oil. However, this is all changing as the impact of Brexit bites. Britons who enjoy a Mediterranean diet could face shortages of Italian pasta, extra virgin olive oil and tomato sauce as a result of Brexit bureaucracy issues, Italian producers have warned.
This makes it the perfect time for consumers to widen their culinary horizons and look to alternative producers of luxury extra virgin olive oil such as Morocco for their EVOO fix.
With a long heritage of olive growing, Morocco has been producing this ‘liquid gold from the time of the Romans.
Morocco Gold is produced with love, knowledge and an artistry passed from generation to generation to create this rare Extra Virgin olive oil of exceptional quality.
How Brexit Is Threatening Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Imports of Italian pasta to the UK fell by 28 per cent in the first five months of this year, while olive oil fell by 13 per cent and Made in Italy tomato sauce by 16 per cent.
‘This is due to the bureaucratic and administrative difficulties linked to the exit of the British from the European Union,’ said the Italian farmers’ lobby group Coldiretti in a statement.
Coldiretti warned that these difficulties jeopardise the €3.4 billion (£2.9 billion) worth of Italian food exports to the UK. The lobby group also warned that Brexit means non-EU food and drinks that do not comply with EU safety standards could be favoured in the UK over Italian products. Lorenzo Bazzana, the Coldiretti’s economic officer, said he expected overall trade between Italy and the UK to fall further this year.
He told The Times: ‘It’s a problem because the UK is Italy’s fourth-largest export destination after Germany, France and the US.’ Coldiretti also warned in their statement that Brexit could lead to a rise in counterfeits and imitations of Italian food products including Parmesan.
The group said that the UK could become the ‘trojan horse’ for the arrival of fake Made in Italy products – which are mainly made in the US, they claimed. This could catch out some British consumers who thought they were buying authentic Italian products. ‘The British need to watch out for Italian oil and parmesan with an Italian flag on the label which actually comes from America,’ Mr Bazzana said.
‘Before Brexit we could ask the UK to crack down on fake Italian foods but now it is out of the EU we cannot, hence our fear things could turn for the worse there. We have already seen it happen in Russia, where the moment sanctions stopped Italian food arriving, Russian parmesan, complete with the Italian flag, appeared in stores.’
The warning comes after the chairman of Marks & Spencer said last month that Britons could face shortages of Spanish chorizo and French cheese as the result of a ‘fandango of bureaucracy’ at the borders. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Archie Norman said ‘pointless’ post-Brexit red tape on food transported from the UK into the EU is causing huge delays at the borders, extra costs and unnecessary waste.
He warned imports into Britain will be hit by similar chaos from October when the strict new rules are suddenly mirrored for food imported from the EU to the UK. Mr Norman writes: ‘In a mutual act of self-destruction, we risk lumbering French cheese producers and Spanish chorizo manufacturers with the same costs as we have faced trying to export food to the EU.’
Source: Dailymail
Extra Virgin Olive Oil From Morocco
Morocco is a country of rich geographical and cultural diversity. It is also a country undergoing major transformation, celebrating its rich heritage, whilst modernising key sectors of its economy. This includes its thriving agricultural sector, a key part of which is olive cultivation and the production of olive oil.
Even though olive cultivation has been part of Morocco’s agricultural scene since the Roman era, and Morocco is the world’s fifth largest producer of olive oil, the quality and unique qualities of Moroccan olive oil have been relatively unknown.
What Makes Moroccan The Best Olive Oil?
Morocco has the ideal climate for olive cultivation – mild winters, and warm, dry summers. The soils in the main olive growing regions near Taounate, Taza, Fez, Meknes, Beni Mellal, and Marrakech are rich and deep, and generally have an equal balance of clay and coarse sands.
The climate is also slightly harsher than in other olive oil producing countries. Morocco Gold olives are grown in a valley that is about 2,000 feet above sea level. This helps to create the additional climatic challenges that encourage polyphenol uptake within the olive tree. It is also an area with naturally occurring high phenols in the soil itself.
About Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Morocco Gold is a superior quality, single estate extra virgin olive oil from an entirely new source for the UK and other markets. The oil is made from olives grown in the foothills of the Atlas mountains in Morocco, where the unique micro-climate and geology provides ideal conditions for olive growing.
Morocco Gold combines centuries of local cultivation and harvesting knowledge, with our rigorous traceability and quality assurance procedures to bring what is locally considered a ‘noble food’ to international markets.
The oil is produced from the Picholine Marocaine cultivar. This gives Morocco Gold it’s distinctive green fruitiness, hints of sweet almonds, fresh turf and a hint of herbs. It has the distinctive ‘pepperiness’ of a fine extra virgin olive oil giving Morocco Gold a clean, well balanced finish.
Extra virgin olive oil from the Picholine Marocaine is also characterized by it’s high concentration of polyphenols. This gives Morocco Gold it’s oxidative stability that not only extends shelf-life but also provides the health enhancing properties associated with high quality extra virgin olive oils. The European Food Safety Agency has now approved health claims for extra virgin olive oil with a polyphenol content of more than 250mg / kg. Our test results consistently show polyphenol content well above this level.
So Is Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil Healthy?
There are a number of different types of polyphenols in Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil, including oleuropein, tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol, oleocanthal and oleacein. Each are considered extremely strong antioxidants, and are linked to a number of extra virgin olive oil benefits including:
- Maintenance of normal blood pressure
- Keeping the upper respiratory tract healthy
- Protecting proteins in the brain that are involved in memory, learning and thinking
- Helping to keep blood sugar under control
- Treating the symptoms of and/or preventing type 2 diabetes
- Protecting blood lipids from oxidative damage
- Acting as an anti-inflamatory
Morocco Gold Is Growing In Popularity
So whilst the shelves empty of Italian and Spanish extra virgin olive oils, sales of Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil are soaring. Last year saw a quadrupling of our customer base, many of whom are returning customers who have made our extra virgin olive oil part of their healthy lifestyle choices.
So why not try some Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil.