New Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For Immediate Release
6 October 2014

A FRESH ‘GUARANTEE’ FOR ALFA ONE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

Freshness guaranteed, or your money back – that’s the taste promise from Hansells Food Group for two new varieties of Alfa One Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Leccino and Frantoio, hot off the “press”.

Both new Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil flavours use Umbrian Italian olive varieties which have been picked and cold pressed within a few hours, right where they are grown, to guarantee fresh flavour and exceptional quality.

Not only are Alfa One Extra Virgin Olive Oils cold pressed, they are short pressed, minimising the effect oxygen can have on the oil before bottling. No chemicals or high temperatures are used in production.

Alfa One Leccino Extra Virgin Olive Oil is mild and smooth and is ideal for dipping bread or finishing pastas and salads, whilst Alfa One Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil is full-bodied and punchy – an all-purpose oil, particularly well-suited to dishes with stronger flavours such as meat dishes and tomato salads. Both oils are ideal for use with low temperature cooking (less than 160° C).

While 77% of New Zealand households buy olive oil, many may not be aware of the importance of freshness for taste, according to MasterChef Judge and Restaurateur Josh Emett.

“Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best tasting and healthiest Olive Oil you can use but unfortunately many varieties lose their freshness and taste with travel and time. Alfa One varieties are locally bottled every few months in New Zealand for optimal freshness, direct from Umbrian plants imported from Italy and grown in a perfect location in Australia. You can taste the difference.”

An Italian family are the master growers behind Alfa One Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Wanting to supply Italy with fresher olive oil year round, they looked to the southern hemisphere to grow olives in the “off season” several years back. With the ideal location found in Australia, young plants were imported from Italy and propagated to form the “Mother Olive Grove”. The grove is now well established, with more than 100,000 trees. No pesticides or herbicides are used in the grove and waste products from processing olives are used for weed control.

“Knowing the importance of freshness, the family built onsite pressing facilities so olives can be picked and pressed as soon as possible, within a four hour period,” says Senior Brand Manager for Hansells Food Group, Susan Harvey.
“We are acutely aware that some of the olive oils sold here in New Zealand are several years old and rancid by the time they have travelled from Europe. So we only use oil from the first press and quickly process it before storing it in controlled conditions. Then, every couple of months, we bottle Alfa One Extra Virgin Olive Oil in New Zealand for peak freshness.”

Because Hansells is confident Alfa One Extra Virgin Olive Oil will be fresh and taste as an Extra Virgin Olive Oil should, the company is offering a unique Freshness Guarantee to shoppers. The product is available at supermarkets nationwide with a RRP of $11.99 for a 750ml bottle.

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THE ALFA ONE PRODUCT RANGE - DESIGNED TO MAKE CHOOSING OIL EASY

NEW Alfa One Extra Virgin Olive Oils – for low temperature cooking.
Sourced from a single estate, Alfa One Extra Virgin Olive Oils are simply the best tasting and healthiest Olive Oils you can have - freshness guaranteed. With two varieties – Leccino, smooth and balanced and Frantoio, full bodied and fruity, these oils are ideal for use in low temperature cooking (less than 160°C) or any time for a splash of olive flavour.

Alfa One Rice Bran Oil – for high temperature cooking.
Nutritionally balanced and versatile, this naturally light and clean tasting oil is made from the most nutritious part of a rice grain, the bran and germ. It is high in natural antioxidants and has a good balance of the ‘good’ mono and polyunsaturated fats. Stable at high temperatures, it is a versatile choice for frying, grilling and stir frying.

NEW Alfa One Brown Rice Oil – special reserve, for high temperature cooking.
A world first. Rice Bran Oil customers who are health conscious will appreciate this product. The brown rice grains are pressed only once, so by using oil from the first press of the brown rice grains the level of antioxidants in the oil is concentrated. This product has twice the amount of antioxidants of standard Alfa One Rice Bran Oil and ten times the antioxidants of any other cooking oil.

NEW Alfa One Non Stick Spray
For people who are tired with their baking or cooking sticking to their pots and pans. With no solvents and naturally propelled with nitrogen, this product has a butane-free taste and has been developed specifically for non-stick performance.

Alfa One BBQ Grill & Pan Spray –Rice Bran Oil Spray
Butane free, this naturally propelled spray delivers a fine spray of pure rice bran oil. With no butane taste and no explosive propellants it is the perfect safe choice for the BBQ.

KEY FACTS: THE OIL MARKET

• The total cooking oil market is worth $83.4 million and is growing by 1.9%.

• Premium segments are driving the growth – Extra Virgin Olive Oil (+3.8%), Rice Bran Oil (+4.1%) and Coconut Oil (+205%), demonstrating consumers are prepared to pay more for oil which meets their needs.*

• Households have an average of 2.9 oil types in their cupboard that they use from time to time, but they don’t always know which oil to use when.

• There is an opportunity to educate home cooks on which oil to use when.

• Alfa One is New Zealand’s favourite oil brand known for quality, according to research. Alfa One Rice Bran Oil 1L is the number one selling product in the category and has 5.2% share of total oil.

*Aztec data MAT to 08/06/14, Big Picture Research November 2013, n=201

KEY FACTS: HOW TO TASTE OLIVE OIL

First smell the oil: Pour the oil into a small glass and swirl the oil around the glass to release the flavours. Look at the colour of the oil (a fresh olive oil should look yellow/green in colour, a stale olive oil starts to take on a reddy/brown hue). Inhale, with short and long breaths and take in the aroma.
Taste: Try a small amount of the oil, moving it around your mouth, over your taste buds. Keep the oil in the front of your mouth and draw in air (delicately at first and then more vigorously). Taste. Exhaling from the nose will heighten your taste experience. Expel the oil.
Typical flavours you may taste in a fresh extra virgin olive oil are: Green (Grass), Spicy, Fruity, Bitter notes. The strength of these flavour components will vary depending on the quality of the oil and the variety. If olive oil is old or rancid it will smell a bit like engine oil and stale animal fat.

JOSH EMETT’S RECIPES WITH ALFA ONE

Pan Fried Snapper with Capers, Green Olives and Parsley
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
2 x 200g fillets snapper, scaled and pin boned
Alfa One Leccino Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Shallot, finely sliced
10 Green olives, pips removed and sliced
¼ cup Capers
250g Long stem broccoli
Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 lemon
Sea salt
Method:
Break broccoli into medium sized florets and cook in a pan with olive oil until tender, then remove and keep on the side. Score the snapper skin width ways, approx. 2cm apart.
Warm a pan with the olive oil and place snapper fillets skin side down. Season with sea salt. Baste the snapper with the juices from the pan. Flip the snapper over after 3 minutes. Cook for a further minutes and take out of pan and place on a serving plate, place the broccoli on top.
In the same pan, reserving the fish juices, add a little more olive oil, then add the finely sliced shallots and soften, then add capers, olives and parsley, finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.
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Heirloom Tomato Salad with Goats Cheese, Anchovy Croutons
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:
400g heirloom tomatoes, sliced roughly
200g watermelon or honey dew melon, seeded and diced
Alfa One Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
1 sour dough loaf
4 anchovy fillets
Goat’s cheese, crumbled
Fresh basil
Fresh parsley

Method:
Make a paste with the anchovy and then finely slice the sourdough, spread the anchovy paste on the sourdough then dry out in the oven for 10 -12 minutes until crispy.
Place the heirloom tomatoes and watermelon in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, then season lightly with sea salt, leave to steep for 15 minutes approx.
Break down the basil and parsley leaves and add to the tomato and then lay out in a bowl. Crumble the fresh goats cheese over the top then add the anchovy crisps. Add extra basil leaves on top, dress with a touch more olive oil then serve.

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