Where to buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil? 

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a wide consumption food product that can be easily purchased in stores and shops, at least in Spain.

Below we are going to show you some differences depending on the sort of shop where you can buy it.

1. Olive oil in supermarkets and malls:

   Most of the extra virgin olive oil is bought in these sort of establishments. From our point of view it is not the best place to buy it due to some reasons:

   First, almost all large malls tend to use olive oil and milk as claim products, because they know that the lack of these two commodities in the supply forces families to make a purchase.

   Thus, they advertise big discounts in these basic products so that families make the weekly or monthly  purchase  in their supermarkets. This way they compensate that discounts in olive oil and milk with the rest of the products.

   For this they tend to put pressure on olive oil and milk producers as much as possible. In turn, the olive oil producer or commission agent, in front of the small margin offered by the supermarket, produce a limited quality extra virgin olive oil, simply to comply with the legislation and succeed economically. (See the features that an extra virgin olive oil must meet).

   Secondly, large malls do not usually take care of the olive oils preservation. A PET transparent bottle can be many weeks in the aisles of a hypermarket under the light of the fluorescent tubes, which damage seriously the olive oil.

   These two circumstances are, in our opinion, the causes of the OCU (consumer organization) report results, that figure out that many of the olive oils labelled as extra virgin are not.

2. Speciality stores, Oleotecas and gourmet shops:

   These are usually a good option to taste high and different Extra Virgin Olive Oils, varieties and origin denominations. In Spain there are many companies that try to produce high quality EVOO.

   Some of them have only small format bottles so, if you are looking for an extra virgin olive oil to be used in the kitchen for everything daily, that may not meet this need. 
   
   As disadvantage, prices tend to be high.

3. Industrial Mills or cooperatives:

   It is about to buy directly the extra virgin olive oil in cooperatives or mills where the olive oil is produced. The normal thing is to buy olive oil in five or two litre formats. The quality of these EVOO tends to be higher than that offered in hypermarkets or supermarkets.

   Of course, in this case, prices tend to be higher than malls or hypermarket ones, whether they are on offer or not, something that annoys to customers not used to buying in cooperatives, who do not understand that buying in cooperatives can be more expensive.

   The easiness of purchasing in cooperatives is confined to the production areas where they are just located.

4. Olive Oil Mills of private properties:

   Recently many small and medium size mills have been constructed in many private olive farms. The main intention of their owners is to get high quality extra virgin olive oils packaging and selling them like premium products in high prices. So most of the most awarded extra virgin olive oils are usually associated with a particular farm.

   However, many of these mills have not still developed their own sales networks, marketing, or simply their activity is focused on producing extra virgin olive oils to sell later to other wellknown producers who use these olive oil to improve their own ones. 

   Here we understand that the customer could get a high quality extra virgin olive oil at a reasonable price.

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

5. Multibrand Online shops:

   They are the Oleotecas and speciality stores that sell olive oil by using the online tools and internet. They are very comfortable for buying different origin and varieties extra virgin olive oils. Their prices are usually cheaper than traditional shops and most of them usually sell extra virgin olive oils in family packagins.

6. Producers Online shops:

   Many producers and cooperatives sell their own extra virgin oils throught Internet. From our point of view, unless you live near a mill, it is the best way for buying olive oil. Even more if it is a private mill that produce their olive oils from olives harvested in their own olive fields.

How to choose where to buy olive oil by internet?

There are many online shops to buy olive oil and extra virgin olive oil. 
Below we propose you some clues to choose the most interesting ones.

• It is important to make sure that the online shop is operational. Many online shop start their selling and after not getting enough sales, leave their activity, but do not close the site. So it is interesting to figure out if they have updated news, a live chat to confirm that it is not a fake, see the dates of the latest comments or entries in your blog.
• It is important that the web is secure. It can be seen in the green padlock of the browser bar, or HTTPS. 
• Check that shop has customer comments and what are their opinions. If the comments are managed by an external company, like Inkomi or Google, it is even better, because they avoid cheating and that the comments came from the owner of the Website. 
• Existing and clear returns policy.
• The more information offered about extra virgin olive oil, the better: Year of harvest, origin, variety, certificates, origin denominations, production methods…