La Española Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1L $13 (Was $26) @ Coles

840

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.

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Comments

  • +6

    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.

    • +3

      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.

      • +46

        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.

    • +2

      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.

  • +36

    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.

    • +1

      thats really cool thanks for posting that info!

    • +8

      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.

      • +1

        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!
          ❤️👌

    • 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.

  • +1

    I also got 400 bonus pts offer in Flybuys app to activate with this product

  • +3

    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

  • What's this best used for?

    • +1

      remedy massage 69 😁

      • good idea! honey would be a bit too sticky…

  • +4

    Some great Olive Oil commentary in this thread. Must be a hot commodity for OzBargainers.

  • +1

    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

  • -1

    $26 / L for oil thanks Albo 🤮

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