People often ask if we use local ingredients in our products.
I try not to say things like “When was the last time you saw an olive tree in Colorado?” and instead I give a straight, two-fold answer.

1. We use local ingredients when we can, and
2. “Local” is sometimes relative.

As a maker of specialty items that rely for their deliciousness on ingredients like Kalamata olives, Parmesan Cheese, fresh herbs, produce and beans, the reality is few of these items are grown or produced here in Colorado.  Take fresh Basil for example.  While there are a few farms in Colorado that grow Basil in summertime, we use something like 450 pounds of it every week all year round, and twice this during the winter holidays. Although we’d love to get local Basil, even if Colorado growers wanted to give us everything they produce, there is no way even their combined resources could meet all of our needs.

So we compromise. During the summer, we source some of our Basil from a few local farms.  The rest of the year, we have a supplier who works with several small, privately owned farms in California and Hawaii.  All of our Basil comes from two or three sources our supplier knows personally.  In other words, we try to live according to the spirit of one aspect of the “eat local” movement – to support and protect small farmers.

And now to my point about local being relative.  People love our Pestos and Tapenades because they taste better than anyone else’s.  The reason they taste better is that we not only use expensive fresh herbs from small, quality producers, we also use the finest Extra Virgin Olive oil we can find.  This has always meant sourcing from European producers.  As someone who belonged to David Rosengarten’s Olive Oil club from its start, I’ve tasted premium EVOO from all over the world and have dozens of points of comparison.  Here at Piccolo/Ciolo, we’ve tasted U.S. brands and they’ve never matched the intense flavors we experienced with oils made from fruit grown in Italy, Greece or Spain (or Chile or even Australia).  Because our customers expect big flavor from our products, those are the oils we’ve always purchased.  Until now.

It’s exciting to say that a few months ago we were introduced to one of the best Extra Virgin Olive Oils I’ve ever tasted and surprisingly, it is not from Greece or Italy or anywhere else outside of the states – but instead is from a fabulous group in California: California Olive Ranch. (http://www.californiaoliveranch.com).  And we’re not the only ones who appreciate the big, buttery Olive flavor (no painful burn in the back of the throat). Even the very picky folks at Cooks Illustrated agree, giving the Arbequina EVOO (the variety we use) their highest rating.

So, while we may not use local products in everything we make, please remember that as a small specialty foods company, our job is to bring you the biggest taste we can afford.  And that compared with Europe, South America or Australia, California really is “local” for most of us in the states.

More »