Boy, when did food get so expensive?

Last time I went for a grocery run, I thought I was going to have to sell my kidney.

Whilst the cost of food is shut up as of late,

some food items like olive oil and saffron have always had soaring price points.

And the reasons why are astounding.

So whether you're a gallivanting gastronomist or a microwave maestro,

prepare yourself to be blown away by the unbelievable reasons why some supermarket

mainstays cost so darn much.

You're listening. You're listening. You're listening to you. supermarket mainstays cost so darn much. I bet most of our moms have the same things in their cupboards. Some old baking dish that's seen better days, a kitchen mixer from the 1800s, and a bottle of olive oil.

Now, I don't know for sure what bygone era the mixer or the dish came from, but I can tell you where olive oil comes from, the grocery store.

As for how it got to the grocery store, though, that's a little trickier.

And is it even worth the money when I could buy a gallon of sunflower or vegetable oil for a fraction of the price?

Well, for a lot of people, it is. After all, the global olive oil market was

put at an astronomical $12.3 billion in 2022 alone, and it's predicted to keep growing. But why is something

seemingly so simple, such a lucrative gold mine?

To find out, let's start things up with the basics.

What actually is olive oil?

Well, it's the fat extracted from, you guessed it, olives.

That only is it delicious to eat, but it can keep you looking pretty and has a but ton of health benefits too.

Awesome. Now not all olives are created equally. There are more factors that affect the quality of a finished bottle of olive oil than you could shake a big leafy branch at. Altitude, harvest times, and the methods of harvesting all have a huge impact on what goes into the bottle on your supermarket shelves.

But the most important thing is the cultivar. That's the type of olive itself, and the way farmers have bred them over centuries to produce the best oil.

So if the best olives make the best olive oil, where can I get the best olives?

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