Verónica Guirado Gómez, from Cazorla (Jaén), is a Technical Architect by profession and an Extra Virgin Olive Oil promoter by vocation. She currently resides in Calgary (Canada). It was here where she set up the Vezorla Inc. corporation in 2015. Here she imports and distributes Extra Virgin Olive Oil from her native region, the Sierra de Cazorla, marketing it under her own brand Vezorla. www.verzola.com
Veronica has kindly answered some questions that will provide us with an overview of the olive oil sector, EVOO consumption and consumer behaviour in Canada.
What is the current role of olive growing in Canada?
For now, olive growing plays a very small role, but there is one nonetheless. The Braun family has been the pioneer in Canada in olive growing precisely motivated by a trip to southern Spain. They have done so on Salt Spring Island, an island off the West Coast, a retreat for Canadians where the winters are very mild compared to the rest of Canada. This oil is sold in some of the gourmet shops where I sell Vezorla, but we differ from them in that their oil sells more quickly due to, among other reasons, to the great support of the Canadian people for national products and also, I suppose, to their small production. In the gourmet shops where it is sold, I have only been able to appreciate it in the 250ml format, a format that has a price that doubles other excellent quality EVOOs.
What is consumer behavior like?
My experience tells me that only those who have travelled to Mediterranean countries or who have immigrated from Mediterranean or European countries are able to recognise the taste of an Extra Virgin Olive Oil. In general, Canadians have become accustomed to a very mildly flavoured oil. When one with a more spicy and/or bitter connotation is offered to them, they find it difficult to use regularly and when they do, it is always accompanied by vinegar, both in salads and for dipping bread. The latest trend is oils flavoured with garlic, lemon, coriander, orange, truffle, etc.
There is also a lot of mistrust regarding quality, on the one hand because they have heard and read a lot about blends and on the other hand because they do not know how to differentiate one blend from another that is not.
In my experience, during the 9 years that I have been living in Canada, families and restaurants that usually cook with butter, including the most recognized ones, cook with local canola oil. It is the new generations that are incorporating more Extra Virgin Olive Oil into their diets.
Where is it purchased? By whom is it bought and in what format?
All stores sell it, even Ikea has jumped on the Extra Virgin Olive Oil bandwagon as they are now selling 250ml bottles.
I know that gourmet shops can have between 10 and 50 brands of EVOO. The most popular format accounts for 80% of the total – this is the 1L Cristal format and its price is usually around $7 CAD, which is equivalent to 4.62 Euros; the remaining 20% corresponds to 500ml Cristal bottles. The customers of these formats have the common peculiarity of having traveled to Europe and they like to be surrounded by European atmosphere and food.
Between 5 and 10 brands in their different categories can be offered in large supermarket chains. The categories include: Olive Oil (mild), Olive Oil (extra mild) and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The format sold here is Cristal 1L. The types of customers in such establishments are people who look for convenience in shopping in their immediate vicinity, that is why these supermarkets are everywhere.
And finally, there is the giant Costco, which with only 3 stores per million inhabitants are the ones that sell the most. The most sold formats are packs of 2 cans of 3L and 6 glass bottles of 1L. Customers are looking to buy in large quantities, at very competitive prices and with a reasonable quality/price ratio.
How could olive oil consumption be increased in Canada?
For me the simplest and most effective way to do this would be as such:
First, I think health is something that everybody is interested in to some extent, so they should be educated about the health benefits of EVOO compared to canola oil, butter, coconut oil, sunflower oil, etc.
Second, encourage them to include EVOO in their daily meals. Canada is a country where multiple nationalities coexist, so there are many culinary habits that could be incorporated with EVOO. Canadians could use it in their dishes, the Chinese in theirs, and so on with Indians, Africans, Japanese, Mexicans, etc.
Although it seems strange what I am going to say, when you are so far from your country of origin, what you appreciate most is the food that reminds you of your family and your homeland and that will surely be the most important base of your diet or at least 50% of it. It’s the cooking that makes your life easier. On the other hand, almost all of us have that part inside of ourselves that wants to experience new foods, and that’s how we can promote and introduce our delicious and healthy Spanish dishes.
I give all my support to the olive oil sector, and to my friends and family.
Greetings from Calgary,
Veronica