Where to Buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a widely consumed food product that can be easily purchased in stores, at least in Spain.

Below, we are going to explain some differences depending on the type of store where you can buy it.

1. Olive oil in supermarkets and hypermarkets:

   Most extra virgin olive oil is purchased in these types of establishments. From our point of view, they are not the best places to buy it for several reasons:

   First, almost all large supermarkets tend to use olive oil and milk as promotional products because they know that the lack of these two essential products would encourage families to make a purchase.

   Therefore, they advertise large discounts on these basic products so that families make their weekly or monthly shopping at their supermarkets. In this way, they compensate for the discounts on olive oil and milk with the rest of the products.

   For this reason, they tend to put as much pressure as possible on olive oil and milk producers. In turn, the olive oil producer or supplier, faced with the small margin offered by the supermarket, produces a limited-quality extra virgin olive oil, simply to comply with legislation and remain economically viable. (See the requirements that an extra virgin olive oil must meet).

   Secondly, large supermarkets do not usually pay proper attention to olive oil storage conditions. A transparent PET bottle can remain for many weeks in the aisles of a hypermarket under fluorescent lighting, which seriously damages the olive oil.

   These two circumstances are, in our opinion, the reasons behind the results of the OCU (consumer organization) report, which showed that many olive oils labeled as extra virgin were not actually extra virgin.

2. Specialty stores, Oleotecas and gourmet shops:

   These are usually a good option for tasting high-quality and different Extra Virgin Olive Oils, varieties, and protected designations of origin. In Spain, there are many companies trying to produce high-quality EVOO.

   Some of them only offer small-format bottles, so if you are looking for an extra virgin olive oil for everyday use in the kitchen, they may not meet this need.
   
   As a disadvantage, prices tend to be higher.

3. Industrial mills or cooperatives:

   This involves buying extra virgin olive oil directly from cooperatives or mills where the olive oil is produced. Normally, olive oil is purchased in five- or two-liter formats. The quality of these EVOOs tends to be higher than that offered in hypermarkets or supermarkets.

   Of course, in this case, prices tend to be higher than those in supermarkets or hypermarkets, whether they are on sale or not. This can surprise customers who are not used to buying from cooperatives and do not understand that buying directly from a cooperative can sometimes be more expensive.

   The convenience of purchasing from cooperatives is mainly limited to the production areas where they are located.

4. Olive oil mills on private estates:

   Recently, many small and medium-sized mills have been built on private olive farms. The main intention of their owners is to produce high-quality extra virgin olive oils, package and sell them as premium products at higher prices. Therefore, many of the most awarded extra virgin olive oils are usually associated with a particular estate.

   However, many of these mills have not yet developed their own sales networks or marketing strategies, or their activity is simply focused on producing extra virgin olive oils to later sell them to other well-known producers who use these olive oils to improve their own blends.

   Here, we believe that customers can obtain a high-quality extra virgin olive oil at a reasonable price.

   The problem for consumers is how and where to find these mills. The internet and new technologies are playing an important role in this matter.

5. Multi-brand online stores:

   These are the Oleotecas and specialty stores that sell olive oil using online tools and the internet. They are very convenient for buying extra virgin olive oils from different origins and varieties. Their prices are usually lower than those of traditional stores, and most of them offer extra virgin olive oils in family-size formats.

6. Producers' online stores:

   Many producers and cooperatives sell their own extra virgin olive oils through the internet. From our point of view, unless you live near a mill, it is the best way to buy olive oil. Even more so if it is a private mill that produces olive oil from olives harvested in its own olive groves.

How to choose where to buy olive oil online?

There are many online stores where you can buy olive oil and extra virgin olive oil.
Below, we suggest some guidelines to help you choose the most interesting ones.

• It is important to make sure that the online store is active. Many online stores start selling and, after not achieving enough sales, abandon their activity without closing the website. Therefore, it is useful to check whether they publish updated news, offer a live chat to confirm that they are genuine, and look at the dates of their latest reviews or blog posts.
• It is important that the website is secure. This can be seen through the padlock icon in the browser bar and the use of HTTPS.
• Check that the store has customer reviews and see what customers think. If the reviews are managed by an external company, such as Inkomi or Google, it is even better because this helps prevent fake reviews from being created by the website owner.
• An existing and clear return policy.
• The more information provided about extra virgin olive oil, the better: harvest year, origin, variety, certificates, protected designations of origin, production methods...