Spanish olive oil producers say big supermarkets are making huge profits at the expense of consumers by making a 59% margin over the initial price. #EuropeNews
  • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
    17·
    24 days ago

    If the pandemic taught corporations anything, it was that they could gauge us far more than what they were already doing.

  • penquin
    161·
    24 days ago

    I buy 2 gallons olive oil from Costco to cook with. 2 years ago, it was $15.99. now it’s $65. Fuck capitalism.

    • KevonLooney
      10·
      24 days ago

      Um, 2 gallons for $16? That was probably fake or blended olive oil. That’s $2 a quart. No one is selling you the good stuff for that price.

      • penquin
        2·
        24 days ago

        It’s refined olive oil and 15% extra virgin olive oil. Here it is on their site for a single one. At the store, they have the two bottles attached with a plastic handle.

        • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.worldEnglish
          81·
          24 days ago

          refined olive oil

          What does that even mean?

          There’s two types of olive oil: pressed from olives, and definitely not olive oil.

          The amount of snake oil in the US food industry is unbelievable.

          • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            3·
            24 days ago

            from what I understand, there are essentially three levels of olive oil:

            • Extra Virgin Olive Oil: the good stuff, used primarily as a taste additive, dressings, etc.
            • Refined Olive Oil: the cheap stuff, typically mashed olives that make it out of EEVO. You’ll use this for frying
            • Blended Olive Oil: medium priced, usually a blend of EEVO and refined

            That isn’t to say that olive oil doesn’t need better controls and oversight.

            There is no reason to buy EEVO when refined will do. I use the cheap stuff for making mayonnaise because it blends better. In fact, if you try to use EEVO for mayonnaise, it will turn rancid.

            • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              23 days ago

              from what I understand, there are essentially three levels of olive oil:

              Extra Virgin Olive Oil: the good stuff, used primarily as a taste additive, dressings, etc.
Refined Olive Oil: the cheap stuff, typically mashed olives that make it out of EEVO. You’ll use this for frying
Blended Olive Oil: medium priced, usually a blend of EEVO and refined

              From what I understand, it went like this:

              • “Hey, what’s all this goop on the floor?”
              • “It’s all the crap from the olives we pressed this morning… Hey, Mario, come and wipe this off!”
              • “Wait wait, can’t we sell this?”
              • “Are you crazy? Who would want to buy olive goop?”
              • “Let me think about it… Mario, put it in barrels.”

              And that’s how most of the US food shittification went. People got used to it and it’s normal to them.

              Meanwhile in Europe, there’s no “refined olive oil” to be found. Like many of the creative aberrations of the US market, they’re completely absent in the rest of the developed world.

          • penquin
            2·
            24 days ago

            Refined means the oil gets processed to neutralize defects in taste, aroma, or acidity.It’s still olive oil, but it’s treated so your food doesn’t taste like olive oil when you cook it with. That’s all. It’s not snake oil. Lol

            • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
              21·
              24 days ago

              It is refined for higher smoke point so it can be used for high heat cooking. they do this by removing solids etc

              this is done via chemical treatments. it is fine but oilive oil is not best all purpose and high heat cooking oil.

              neutralize defects in taste, aroma, or acidity

              that’s an odd phrasing… you don’t buy high heat cooking for any of that. more accurate way to put it is that they strip oil of taste and aroma that comes from solids in the cold pressed table grade oil.

        • KevonLooney
          3·
          24 days ago

          You know Costco isn’t squeezing the olives themselves? There’s a lot of fake olive oil out there. They just blend in some vegetable oil or something.

          • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
            22·
            24 days ago

            normies have hard time understanding that major US companies are part of the problem because they “trust the brand” lol

            they buy goyslop grade product, prolly less than 50% refined olive oil blended with some cheap shite, all of it extracted with heavy chemical processing.

            it is fine for cooking, whatever, but i is hardly “olive oil” lol

            even if it is labeled as such, it aint. math don’t work.

            • penquin
              2·
              24 days ago

              The whole topic was about how shit became expensive, I don’t know why we are talking about “normies” and conspiracy theories! Holy shit, some folks scoure the internet to just drag people down to their misery. Get a fucking life, you two.