15 Highest Quality Olive Oil Brands in the US
This article will look at the 15 Highest Quality Olive Oil Brands in the US. You can skip our detailed analysis and go directly to the top 5 Highest Quality Olive Oil Brands in the US.
The North American Olive Oil market is valued at USD 3.35 billion according to this report by Data Bridge Market Research. Even assuming the United States accounts for just one-third of this market, it would be capturing USD 1.12B. This number makes sense given that the U.S. was one of the biggest olive oil exporters in the world in 2022, with exports at around USD 44 million, for more information on the global olive oil industry you may go through our list of 12 Countries That Produce The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Specifically dominating this market is the category of “Virgin olive oils’. This domination is reflected in our listing of olive oil brands discussed in the list in this article since Virgin olive oils are well-represented among the top brands in the US for olive oils. For an understanding of the global landscape of olive oil, we recommend a quick read of the 20 Highest Quality Olive Oil In The World.
In assessing the competitive landscape of olive oil manufacturers in the US, we note that Umay Foods currently leads the market with more than USD 250 million in annual revenue according to data by Thomasnet. The same data highlights Roland Foods and Atlantic Distribution to have around USD 100-240 million each. This indicates that Umay Foods has a 22% market share while Roland Foods and Atlantic Distribution have an estimated average market share of 15% each.
Diving deeper into the market leaders we find that the market leader, Umay Foods Inc traces its origins to Turkey and is an importer also known by the name of Olive Oils Island. Similarly, even though Roland Foods began sales as early in the US as 1940, its origin is traced to even earlier sales in France in 1936. Roland Foods was also previously acquired by Vestar Capital Partners in 2013 and the company has more recently ventured into the baking industry and acquired ifiGourmet in 2023. Even the third market leader, Atlantic Distribution or Atlantic International Products began in 1995 and continues as importers of specialty food products. The conclusion from this deep dive is that the market leaders in olive oil in the US are usually importers who venture into acquiring other adjacent verticals in the food industry.
Let's now head over to the list of the highest-quality olive oil brands in America.
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Methodology
Measuring the quality of olive oils is to some extent subjective. This measurement is complicated because the country of origin, quality of packaging, extraction processes, and a host of other factors impact the quality of any given olive oil. As a consequence, we have used the consensus approach to collect data for this article. The consensus approach consisted of exploring resources such as NYIOCC World Olive Oil Competition’s rankings, The New York Times, Food and Wine, New York Magazine, USA Today, and Reddit threads on the topic, amongst others. Sifting through these resources we ranked the following olive oil brands according to how often they appeared on the top sources we could find. The frequency with which the brands on the list appeared in our sources was reflected in their scores. For instance, 1 appearance in our sources gave each brand 1 point. The maximum score possible on this metric was 10.
By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insider.
15 Highest Quality Olive Oil Brands in the US
15. Bragg Organic
Insider Monkey Score: 2/10
Bragg is one of the more commonly found olive oils throughout the world. This comes as no surprise given that Bragg has been operating as a brand since 1912. Their mission is to bring “simple health” to consumers and in doing so they price their organic olive oil at just $25 for a 32 oz bottle. When selecting an olive oil of above-average quality, it is hard to go wrong with Bragg.
14. Vignoli
Insider Monkey Score: 2/10
Vignoli is a sales-master in the olive oil game. They have separate sales channels for wholesale, subscriptions, and individual purchases and offer affiliations at competitive rates. Nevertheless, it should not be assumed that Vignoli has traded off quality for scale. Their olive oil comes from fresh Italian olives being cold-pressed in small batches and deserves a place on our list amongst other maximum high-quality olive oil brands available in the US.
13. Lantzanakis
Insider Monkey Score: 2/10
Lantzanakis is perhaps the best quality olive oil that can be bought at a price point of just $18 per unit. This olive oil traces its origins to Sitia, Crete, and was first produced in 1995. Today, the production of this brand has been passed across generations and maintained by the same family (the Lantzanakis family).
12. Bertolli
Insider Monkey Score: 3/10
Bertolli is 12th on our list of the highest-quality olive oil brands in the US. Established in 1865, Bertolli is a similar brand to Bragg in its long history of producing cooking supplies. The Italian origins of Bertolli however give it an edge over its natural use in pastas. Particularly, using Bertolli in pasta or salads is also a good idea because of its smoke-point being a bit lower at 392 degrees Fahrenheit than its competitors (such as Brightland).
11. Bono Sicciia PGI
Insider Monkey Score: 3/10
A unique feature of Bono’s olive oil is its commitment to quality shown by its traceability. Each bottle of Bono can be traced to the specific farm where the olives were sourced from. It's hence no wonder that the brand has been doing well in the cooking industry since 1934.
10. Illiada
Insider Monkey Score: 3/10
Illiada is a leading-quality brand of Greek Olive oil, now with market capture in the U.S. It should be noted that while imported olive oils are more the norm than the exception in the U.S. market, Illiada is a specifically high-priced import. However, this is to be expected from an internationally acclaimed olive oil. Illiada was a winner in the gold category of the London International Olive Oil Competition in 2022 as well as the China International Olive Oil Competition in the same year.
9. Fat Gold
Insider Monkey Score: 4/10
A distinct feature of Fat Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil is its sales channel. The product allows customers to ‘subscribe’. This means that for a reasonable price of $117, you can get a year’s worth of supply of Fat Gold. The Fat Gold brand is owned in majority by Kathryn Tomajan who has a master's degree in Food Culture from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenza, Italy. She has also been consulted for other brands on this list such as Pineapple Collaborative and is a leading voice for the current olive oil industry in the U.S.
8. Cobram Estate California
Insider Monkey Score: 4/10
Hailing from Woodland, California, this is one of the few leading quality olive oil produced in America. Available in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOOS) variants, Cobram Estate prides itself on having a rigorous selection process for the olives it chooses to press. Former CEO of Cobram Estate Rob Macgavin has previously remarked that the company’s product quality is owed to the freshness of olives used. In an interview with Food Navigator USA, he notes that approximately 50% of the world’s olive oils are so rotten at the time of pressing that they are not fit for human consumption. It is hence no wonder that Cobram Estate California ranks so highly on our list.
7. Flamingo Estate
Insider Monkey Score: 4/10
Cold-pressed from olives grown on 150-year-old trees in California, Flamingo Estate is perhaps the most high-end olive oil brand on price tag Its price-tag of $48 per bottle factors into the luxury associated with the brand. Similar to Fat Gold, Flamingo Estate also offers a subscription model that allows you to have the olive oil delivered to you every few weeks at a cheaper rate than a one-time purchase. Reflecting the validity of its higher price point, reviewers on Vice have claimed that Flamingo Estate is the best olive oil they have ever had.
6. Pineapple Collaborative
Insider Monkey Score: 5/10
This olive oil has perhaps the most interesting story of origin amongst all others. The Pineapple Collaborative started as an attempt to build a community in 2015 and was known as Pineapple “DC” initially. Pineapple DC consisted of the founding members including Ariel Pasternak, Raisa Aziz, and others hosting events in Washington DC spotlighting women in the food industry. It was not until 2019 that this group of founders launched their first product, which is the olive oil sold as Pineapple Collaborative today. Priced at around $38 and packaged in a chic, tin can, the Pineapple Collaborative markets itself as a premium olive oil made to bring communities together.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Highest Quality Olive Oil Brands in the US is originally published on Insider Monkey