Normally $26 or until the next time Coles decides to take the piss
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Mild Flavour and Mild & Light Olive Oil also half price.
Something, something olive oil from Spain. Yes, I'd rather buy local too but Coles cancelled my Cobram order, and $13/L is $13/L.
The bottles I bought expire Jan 2026.
Have to go back and look it up.
But I do know that the last Choice olive oil review I read emphasised the strong link between freshness and quality and for that reason alone buying imported olive oils was almost a guarantee of inferior quality compared to locally made brands.
I'd respectfully disagree. Oxidation, exposure to UV, and heat are the 3 predominant drivers of the degredation of olive oil.
Imports from Europe come via ship. From manufacture in Spain to store shelf in Australia should be less than 120 days.
The bottles are sealed. They're sheltered from UV and most modern logistic pathways are pretty temperature controlled.
Noting most consumers will use olive oil like this for cooking purposes, there'd be limited discernable difference in taste between bottling in Spain and consumption in Australia.
I will agree with you though that for olive oil you're using raw, as a dip, on a salad, etc. Yes, you'd want as fresh as possible.
The issue though is that just because you may be consuming an olive oil made in Australia need to not mean it's fresher. Often a bottle you're buying that was made in Australia can easily be 6 months or older.
I've a background in supply chains so this is just broad brush strokes. Always exceptions one way or the other.
Disagree all you want when you respond with as much facts based information as that mate. We all learn something that way.
Excellent post!
@[Deactivated]: I read your first few words and thought this was going to go another way haha. Thanks mate!
@SYLTB: Like all commodities, it is swings and roundabouts. The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition awarded 2 Australian olive oils the gold medal category at the 2024 awards. They were:
Cobram Estate Australia Ultra Premium Coratina; and
Cape Schanck Olive Estate Coratina.
Both brands have long picked up international awards at a variety of olive oil conventions (yes they exist).
@ohyesss: Thanks mate. Apparently I can't edit a comment that's been replied to. Correct link to the Cobram Estate olive oil that is awared is here: https://bestoliveoils.org/brands/cobram-estate-australia-ult…
@Saywhatold: you know whats funny the average consumer wont buy both of those labels because they are far to expensive for what they are. It doesnt mean that all the other ranges are up to par….
gold metal on overpriced oil …hahahah ok
The only other factor is personal taste.
@Saywhatold: I don't know if the Bold matters, but the
Cobram Estate Australia Ultra Premium Coratina Bold is currently on sale for $20, at Coles, for a 500ml bottle
(Normal Price: $25).
Thank you.
We cook with imported and eat locally for fresh dips/platters and this post gives me comfort!
evoo for cooking purposes is generally overkill. you can get away with chump non virgin olive oil and the taste is generally indistinguishable. there are some more delicate dishes you might want it for but for like an italian meat pasta dish or something you plan to confit or turn up the heat on it probably wont retain its flavour.
https://12ft.io/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/dining/17…
Often a bottle you're buying that was made in Australia can easily be 6 months or older.
Absolutely, and a bottle from Spain can easily be 6 months or older plus 120 days or more.
@ihbh: Absolutely correct. As a consumer there's very little transparency around the freshness of produce. That's down to freshness being a commercial matter and the classic "consumers will shop with their wallets" mentality. I.e., if you want fresh, you'll go out of your way to somehow get it.
Governments regulate food safety, thus they agree international standards and stipulate maximum shelf life from the perspective of consumer safety.
As a result, you can pick up a bottle and know if its still safe to consume, but you won't know how fresh it is if the manufacturer didn't make a decision to include a bottling date. That all is a case of marketing.
I couldn’t find anything about real vs fake oils, but in their review from Dec 2021 this oil came 10th out of 22, for what it’s worth.
more importantly, it is below their threshold for a decent olive oil and "not recommended".
Good price. For those wondering why the prices of olive oil have sat high and Coles/Woolworths haven't been doing their usual half prices on olive oils over the last year or two, it's largely down to the global price of olive oil.
It historically sat at around $4k USD per metric ton. Between 2023 to early 2024, global trade prices got above $10k USD per metric ton. This was largely down to exceptional droughts in Europe, particularly in key olive growing regions in Spain and Italy in late 22, across 23, and into 24. It meant there was a very limited harvest for 2 years.
The regions are recovering and the groves are bouncing back. Prices are now down from $10k USD to about $7.5k USD and forecasts indicate will continue to come down. Another season of decent harvests in Europe should see prices back under $6k or even $5k USD by the end of this year and you'll start to see discounts and 2-for-1 buys back on the shelves at the big grocers as they start to move out old stock from their inventory and supply contracts.
thats really cool thanks for posting that info!
Olive Oil supply chain manager by day, ozbargainer by night - thank you for teaching us - I truly enjoyed it.
Also I saw that Calabrian Mafia (Ndrangheta) has gone into the counterfeit olive oil business too, disrupting prices and logistics chains further as police become involved.
Correct. For some Australian consumer peace of mind, like most food products, there is an Australian Standard that domestic production and imported production olive oil needs to comply with. It is Australian Standard AS5264-2011.
Like most of Australia's horticulture sector, the olive industry pays a levee ($3 per tonne harvest) to the Australian Government which is then entrusted to an identified Research and Development Corporation, in this case it is called Hort Innovation.
Hort Innovation has invested some olive industry RDC funds into a pilot programme to undertake 120 samples of domestic and imported olive oil brands to determine compliance with AS5264-2011 and ensure the oil meets requisite requirements.
The pilot programme only commenced in mid-2024, so no results out yet. But the first batch of 20 results should be out soon. It'll provide some decent transparency for the public into label claims for the olive oil they're consuming from both Australian producers and from imports.
The Australian Government, via the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF) also are the administrators of what is called the Imported Food Inspection Scheme (IFIS). All food that is imported into Australia is subject (based upon risk category) to surveillance and testing by DAFF. As you'd expect, oils (inc. olive oil) are low risk foods and 5% of imported consignments are randomly inspected. Where the assessment officer has grounds to find the inspected food questionable, including when informed by intelligence (yes, there are government-government intelligence networks for food fraud) the goods can be undertaken for chemical and residue analysis.
Anyway, long story short. DAFF publishes the IFIS results monthly, and annually and over the last 2 years there hasn't been any edible oils that have failed IFIS inspections.
Now that's not to say they don't exist. As it is a low risk food it isn't really inspected by the Australian Government. But there are checks in place by industry and the Aus Gov to try and ensure we're not a dumping ground for food fraud - let's just not talk about honey imports though!
Wow, dam, I'm reading this and thinking, who is this guy, he's amazing!
❤️👌
let's just not talk about honey imports though!
So, what about them honey imports, eh ? 😝
(PS: I source mine, from hobbyist bee-keepers )
@whyisave: There's a few ways to look at it, but by most definitions, most honey brands you buy on the shelves are adulterated to some degree. Adulteration is the bulking, or substitution, of part of the natural honey with sucrose syrups, normally sugar, rice, or wheat derived.
What happens overseas (and to some degree here in Australia) is the honey industry is dominated by players who buy vast quantities of honey from a number of sources. They consolidate it and bottle it. What happens in that case is either the owners of the businesses ignorantly, or intentionally, buy sources of honey from suppliers which was adulterated and bulked out with the above mentioned adulterants. So you end up with a bottle of honey that might be 50% actual honey, and 50% other sugars.
It's an issue that has long plagued the industry. By the very nature of the honey industry, there will be hundreds or thousands of suppliers you're buying your source honey from. Even ethical companies that bottle will struggle to only buy from reputable sellers.
Chemical analysis testing of honey is a really interesting science. I could talk about it for ages. But there are dozens of different types of testing you can do, but they're all different and all provide different results. The testing also is pretty technical and expensive. So if you're a bottling company you just can't feasibly test all of your suppliers.
Resultantly, most brands that consumers end up buying isn't really honey. It's more "honey+other sugars".
I think it was last year that the most prestigious international honey awards actually scrapped the awards that year because they did chemical testing of all the entries and found the majority of them were positive for adulterants. Even some of the famous New Zealand Manuka brands have been stung in the past.
There are some honeys on the shelf that are 100% honey and are sold by companies that own the entire supply chain from hive to bottle. But they're pretty niche.
It's an issue that has long plagued the industry.
Yes, I remember this article, from some years ago (2018)
https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/fake-honey-…
One in five samples of local honey sourced along the eastern seaboard of Australia, including boutique brands, has been found to be fake, deepening the global scandal over the impurity of honey.
Even some of the famous New Zealand Manuka brands have been stung in the past.
Wow…even Manuka brands?!
I've heard that "Manuka" honey is also found in AU, and if I'm not wrong, due to 'region copyrighting', Manuka honey is the name that can only be used to sell the honey from that flower in NZ.
( It's like using the name of Champagne in France )
@whyisave: Yeah so with Manuka. The NZ Trade Office or whatever legal court they have for intellectual property disputes ruled a few years ago that Manuka is a description, not a trade designation of origin (ala Champagne).
Because Manuka is a tree, and is native to both New Zealand and Australia (though I think we call it a tea tree in Australia), NZs trade court rulled against the NZ honey industry and agreed Australian honey could also be called Manuka as a similar description.
It was an amazing case of trade law for NZs courts. Worth a read if you're interested.
@Saywhatold: I watched the 4 corners or foreign correspondant episode (cant remember which) about honey, basically anything from china is filled with cheap sugar substitute/glucose gel and food colour, counterfeit honey. International honey is a complete racket and this shit is growing, now maple syrup is the next gold rush for criminals. Dont buy anything that isnt made with 100% Australian ingredients.
@Skinnerr: Good luck doing that with Maple Syrup (though they are producing test crops in Tas, I believe)
I wish they'd make some cheaper counterfeit n'duja
Thanks for sharing the knowledge. No wonder when I was in Spain in Dec 2024 we found Olive oil price as high as down under in Mercadona / Carrefour Express, but everything else - foods / groceries are almost 40-50% cheaper but of better quality… cost of living in AU now is a joke, needs a reset.
Mercadona and Carrefour Express are expensive. Lidl and Carrefour non-express are noticeably cheaper.
you wrote "Between 2023 to early 2024, global trade prices got above $10k USD per metric ton. This was largely down to exceptional droughts in Europe, particularly in key olive growing regions in Spain and Italy in late 22, across 23, and into 24. It meant there was a very limited harvest for 2 years."
why then is Cobram Oil so expensive or any of the aussie ones?
why then is Cobram Oil so expensive or any of the aussie ones?
I have the same question and don't know the answer, but I remember in the last couple of years of all those places and businesses, which are unrelated, and blamed the Ukraine conflict, to jack up their prices here.
My guess is that it's due to olive oil having a global market. If local producers can get a higher price overseas, they'll sell there.
I also got 400 bonus pts offer in Flybuys app to activate with this product
if only all post comments were informative as this one…
It's only 18 at Aldi for what I expect is Cobram repackaged, and even less if you can find the 3L tin in stock. Easier to just buy local IMO
These guys are way better than Cobram and the Aldi one - $39 for 2L local EVOO delivered.
https://www.sherwoodsprings.com.au/
Nice find!
What's this best used for?
remedy massage 69 😁
good idea! honey would be a bit too sticky…
Some great Olive Oil commentary in this thread. Must be a hot commodity for OzBargainers.
Makes a change from EVs. Plus, I could make bio-diesel with it after cooking.
Makes a change from EVs
No, we are still talking about EVs here….EVOO.
not amazing, but getting almost back to where it should be
Is this olive oil legit? As in, is it the real McCoy?
it tastes olivey, so ya
The european droughts where clearly not his fault.
Cheapest this product has been in some time. It’s been fluctuating between $26 and it’s “sale prices” of $18-$19 for quite some time now on the weekly rotation.
does anyone know what "product of mixed origin" means?
i am generally sceptical of imported olive oils with spanish or italian branding due to the negative reports of fraud - especially now with the european shortages and price rises
over the last few years i have been happy with cobram and red island oil - they just taste much better
I'd love to hear people's feedback on this oil after tasting it
Tried to explain this earlier to Linkan on the forum, You are very correct. We only buy Greek or Australian virgin olive oil for that reason.
Have family in a middle eastern country who grow olives on acres (pretty much every one does in rural areas over there) and they would harvest, chuck in in the village refinery and send the family 20+ litres on a ship to Aus. Best olive oil you will ever taste. Dip a piece of lebanese bread in that olive oil and you'll be in heaven.
My wife and I did a tour of a small olive oil producer in Portugal a couple of years ago. It's as interesting as visiting a winery, if not more interesting, and the taste of the olive oil was amazing, unlike anything I've had here from the supermarket. We took a couple of bottles home with us but we've sadly since run out.
tour of a small olive oil producer in Portugal
Which part?
I've been a few times and will go back, next year.
but we've sadly since run out.
When is your next trip to Portugal, to stock up? 😉
Yeah none left on the shelf.
of course not. you'll have to check out all of the Coles stores.
Raincheck?
yes it looks like you can.
Damn, i had given up waiting for this discount and bought the big-boy version. But, my partner hates the plastic container.
Worth noting that Spanish oil has a rep of not being 100% virgin….
no it doesn't. The Spanish are very passionate about their olive oil.
Passionate about the $$$, Those that know , Know…..Can't go passed Greek and also Australia makes good stuff….
by all means enlighten us with a link to some of these facts that those who know, know.
@Linkan: Those that know, know do your own research….not everything comes down to a link…. But
In Ciudad Real, Spain, officials seized a dozen barrels of adulterated oil — meaning extra virgin olive oil that was mixed with other oils — as well as four vehicles and billing documents. In Sicily and Tuscany, three oil factories were believed to have been involved in the illegal operation, officials said.https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/04/world/europe/olive-oil-fraud-italy-spain.html So eat your own BS and this is not how I know…..
@Linkan: And more The olive oil sector in Spain is in upheaval following accusations by Dcoop, a cooperative with thousands of members, of unchecked and widespread olive oil fraud. https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/europe/accusation-of-…
I like this stuff, I cook with the mild which I understand is some percentage refined but it smells great frying up onion and carrots for a Bolognese.
It's strange to see this brand being marketed as more premium. Back in Europe La Española was the cheap stuff. Good for basic frying but that's about it.
Is it being marketed as more premium though? Regular price is $2.60/100mL which is close to the lowest price for ~1L bottles excluding home brand.
They should restrict to 2 per customer/Family…can not find any at my local coles
But some ppl are just too selfish i guess
No problem, just ask for a raincheck and then you can get it at this price any time it comes back in stock (at any Coles shop) in the next 30 days.
Kind of like toilet paper
They should restrict to 2 per customer/Family
Yeah but where do we draw the line? Anything that goes on half price should be restricted? It's not like current egg situation where there isn't any alternative available
$1.30 per 100ml. Pretty good.
this guy said spanish, greek and italian olives oil are good,, why no australia ?
https://youtu.be/Svwrb_0JVeM?t=495
Does anyone have a Choice subscription to tell us where this brand ended up in the real vs fake oil lists?
I know the similar looking monde one and Cobram were well marked.