June 21st-23rd, 2009 Davis and Napa Valley, California
Beyond Extra Virgin is an international conference presented by the UC Davis Olive Center, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and The Culinary Institute of America. The conference promises to be a seminal event in exploring best production practices, the sensory qualities, and culinary possibilities of the highest quality extra virgin olive oils. Register today and join a congress of researchers, producers, educators, and culinary professionals from around the world in riveting global discourse on the future of olive oils that are Beyond Extra Virgin. For more information visit the olive center website.
Raising the Bar on Olive Oil Quality: Views from Down Under
May 20th, 2009 Forestville, California
The olive center, along with UCCE and Santa Rosa Junior College, will be offering an advanced sensory olive oil course at Shone Farm in Forestville (Santa Rosa) on May 20th. The course will feature experts from New Zealand and Australia who will speak about their new world olive oil experiences, marketing strategies and lessons, optimizing market acceptance through blending, as well as the opportunity to taste some of the worlds best olive oils. For more information visit the olive center website.
Need Interns? The UC Davis Olive Center invites you to submit requests to obtain UC Davis student interns who can work and learn about your olive production. If interested please submit requests on the Aggie Job Link website.
We have also received requests from European students with olive related backgrounds who are interested in interning with California producers.
For more information please contact Nicole Sturzenberger, ndsturzenberger@ucdavis.edu, 530.754.9301.
Upcoming: World Congress on Oils and Fats & 28th ISF Congress
September 27th-30th 2009 Sydney
Incorporating the 28th International Society of Fat Research Congress, the World Congress on Oils and Fats builds on over 50 years of collaboration by those working in oils and fats research. The Congress is the ideal opportunity for world industry experts to exchange current information and new ideas about oils, fats, lipid science, and related materials and products. On September 30th, there will be an olive oil short course with Paul Miller. For more information visit their website. www.isfsydney2009.com
UC Davis Olive Center Newsletter Spring 2009, Volume III + An Updated Website + New Faculty + A New Line of Table Olives + Tasting Opportunities at Picnic Day + Student Intern Opportunities
In the Spirit of Spring The UC Davis Olive Center has dusted off the cobwebs from our old website and is proud to unveil our new and improved website! You will notice a more attractive look and feel with new graphic design and a more accessible format to help you find exactly the information you are seeking. Whether you’re looking for the status of our current research projects, past press, or registration information for the Beyond Extra Virgin conference in June, we have worked hard to make the website easier to navigate. Take a moment to look around and discover who we are, what we’ve been up to for the past year, and what we have in store.
Meet the New Faculty The Olive Center would like to introduce Assistant Adjunct Professor Maria Marco and Associate Professor Travis Lybbert. Maria specializes in the ecology and molecular genetics of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and is studying specialty table olives. Travis has co-authored an article on the impact of olive oil labeling legislation on production economics What’s Extra Virgin? An Economic Assessment of California’s Olive Oil Labeling Law
Click on Who We Are to find out more about the UC Davis faculty delivering research at the Olive Center.
Works in Progress On our What We Do link you can find out more about the research projects that are underway here at the UC Davis Olive Center. We have a detailed listing of our current projects complete with updated status alerts to keep you in-the-know.
Get the Latest Our News and Events link connects you to class offerings, news articles, and the Beyond Extra Virgin registration page. Register soon --- this exciting, international conference is filling up quickly! You will also find the UC Davis Olive Center 2008 Annual Report and previous editions of our newsletter.
Access Our Reports We have put together an expanded list of publications with easy-to-access electronic files attached. Read some of the latest information on production economics, the olive fruit fly, nutrition, and more. From there, you can also access the UC Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center website, which provides a wealth of information on a wide variety of crops including olives.
Say Cheese A picture says a thousand words. Browse pictures from the olive center's first year --- did you attend any of our events or courses? You never know who might make an appearance in our photo gallery.
Who You Gonna Call? Take a look at the folks who keep your questions answered, the courses planned, and the research flowing for a productive, viable California table olive and olive oil industry. Click here to view olive center staff photos and bios.
Partner Spotlight --- West Coast Products and Penna Gourmet Olives
In an effort to continue to fund the operations of the UC Davis Olive Center, we would like to announce the April 17, 2009 release of UC Davis table olives. Thanks to generous donations of olives and processing by West Coast Products and flavoring and bottling by Penna Gourmet Olives, we have another great product to complement our already popular UC Davis oils and vinegars. This exciting new line includes three varieties of Sicilian-style table olives: Gourmet Garlic, Sicilian Spiced, and Lemon Citrus. The olives will be available for purchase in the UC Davis Bookstore starting at 11am on April 17th. A special thanks to West Coast Products and Penna for their kind donations in support of the UC Davis Olive Center! Table Olives and Olive Oil Picnic Day Tastings
The olive center will be offering two opportunities to taste their new line of olives on April 17th from 11am to 2pm by the entrance to the bookstore inside the MU and again on April 18th at UC Davis Picnic Day outside the bookstore on the courtyard by Freeborn Hall and at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. Tastings start at 9am.
