© ABB PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK
A Taste of Spain
Sold around the world, Costco’s private label has been built on exceptional quality at the lowest possible price. The Kirkland Signature™ olive oil program was held to these standards as the buying team worked with two suppliers from different countries to create a superb Spanish product.
On a chilly December morning, olive grower José Frías Gago and a small crew of fieldworkers cautiously harvest olive groves on a treacherous incline in Jaén, Spain, taking care that the olives never touch the ground.
The harvest is then taken to a local mill, where the olives are used to produce Kirkland Signature Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This latest addition to the Kirkland Signature line of extra-virgin olive oils is the culmination of a unique collaboration involving Costco buyers with international olive oil suppliers Certified Origins and Overseas Food Trading.
But at the heart of this olive oil are growers like Frías Gago, and the beautiful groves found in the region of Andalusia where Jaén is located. Frías Gago has deep roots here. Growing up in a family of multigenerational farmers, he was taught by his father how to care for the olive groves.
Spain is known as the largest producer of olive oil, and this southern region is recognized as the centre of the country’s olive oil production, yielding more than the total amount of the olive oil produced in Italy.
Traceability from grove to table
Costco’s long-standing olive oil suppliers work with Spanish cooperatives comprised of olive oil mills and thousands of small growers, who collectively cultivate and manage the olive trees, some of which are hundreds of years old. The region’s ecosystem offers the perfect conditions for growing olives. The olives from these trees are harvested to produce Kirkland Signature™ Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Costco’s Kirkland Signature olive oil program has been built on quality, value and traceability, and the Spanish product is no exception, says Martin Beam, Costco corporate foods and sundries buyer. The co-ops provide traceability down to the fields. Upon arrival at the mill, each grower’s crop of olives is recorded, and the oil is tracked from tank to bottle.
“Our members have a certain level of expectation when it comes to Kirkland Signature items,” Beam says. “They not only want something that’s high in quality at a great value, but they also want to know where that product comes from.”
Top: Olive grower José Frías Gago; Andalusian olive grove. Bottom: Freshly harvested olives; The Andalusia region of Spain; Kirkland Signature Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Clockwise from top left: © scott yamamura; ASHLEY SEARS; Peter Hermes Furian / Shutterstock; Anna guardiola
Harvest: no easy feat
This reporter travelled to Jaén with a team of Costco buyers to see the olive harvest and the production of oil firsthand. As we visited the groves with the suppliers, we had a chance to talk to the growers, who shared how they care for trees throughout the year to produce the best-quality olives.
From late October through February, as the olives begin ripening, they are harvested with netting and hand-held machines that comb and vibrate the branches of the olive trees with care, so as not to damage them. This is a labour-intensive process, as many of these groves are located on steep hillsides and can’t be harvested with large machines.
Within 24 hours of harvesting, the olives are brought to the local mill, where they are classified and crushed for their oil content, which is then graded for quality.
Overseas Food Trading, the supplier that provides Kirkland Signature Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil to North America, shortens their supply chain by shipping product in large, dark tanker vessels to Maryland and California where it is bottled for distribution.
“And that’s key for maintaining the freshness and the quality of the olive oil,” says Oliver Capel, vice president of sales for Overseas Food Trading.
Flavourful blend
When developing this olive oil, Costco’s buying team wanted a flavour profile that would represent the local palate and be appreciated across the world. The oil is a blend of three varieties of olives: Picual, Hojiblanca and Arbequina. The Picual and Hojiblanca varieties have a more bitter and pungent flavour, while the Arbequina variety adds mild and fruity notes.
“These three varieties are mixed in a perfect combination in order to have the right flavour profile for the [North] American market,” says Federico Ronco, vice president of sales for Overseas Food Trading. The result is a well-balanced flavour profile that is very versatile.
Kirkland Signature Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil is an expression of the quality that comes from this special part of the world. The key is really the olive selection and the art of blending the three varieties to create the blend, Ronco tells the Connection.
COMMITMENT TO QUALITY
Kirkland Signature items are consistently compared to national brands, which raises the bar for Costco’s buyers to develop products that offer a great value to members.
“One thing we love as a company is to develop international commerce and expand on good [relationships],” says Chris Tingman, vice president and general merchandise manager for Costco International. “Taking a local program with an existing supportive supplier who has a high-quality product and expanding it in the Kirkland Signature portfolio, to be sold in Costco warehouses around the world, is something we are all proud of.”—CG
Costco Connection: Kirkland Signature Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Item 4249003) is available in Costco warehouses and at Costco.ca.