ralo 2024 "HARVEST FRESH" Pre-Order Newsletter

March 1, 2024

ralo 2024 “HARVEST FRESH" NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends,

The fresh olive oil is here!

PRE-ORDER STARTING TODAY! 

You can place your pre-orders immediately from our Online Store Products page and arrange your curbside pickup any day of the week.

Orders to be shipped will start going out March 15th.  We will notify you by email when your order has shipped.

See further details below.

 

HARVEST REPORT

This past Fall was a very difficult harvest with extremely low quantities of oil produced. 

Spring rains at the blossom stage and again while the olives had just formed wreaked havoc on the crop. Then summer drought and heat waves rubbed salt into the wounds, causing much of the crop to fall to the ground.

Luckily, quality did not suffer.  What oil was produced is of very high quality.

But, quantities were very low.

We had already warned you about unprecedented high prices.  Scarcity drives prices skywards.

For a while things looked rather iffy.  Our Koroni grower literally had no oil, not even for his own house!  Last year's Ionian supplier had such a shortage that they would be lucky to fulfil half the committed orders from longstanding customers.  "I can't even sell you a 5L tin."

It took a lot of driving, repeated visits to growers and constant communication to find and secure fresh oil of the quality we all have become accustomed to.  Luckily, the strong personal relationships formed over the past 23 years ultimately paid off.

We have only one type of fresh organic oil and then only a small quantity of it.

We are pleased to report that we have certified organic "early harvest" olive oil from our Kalamata grower.  We are starting with a significantly smaller quantity than we have in any other year (except the first year we started as budding importers crossing new frontiers...).

We also still have a modest quantity of Last Year's 2023 IONIAN certified organic oil (in 5 Litre tins only). To share in the pain of higher prices we have just put these tins on sale at $150 per tin (down from $175) and decided to not raise our 500 ml bottle prices for the fresh KALAMATA oil.

     

    NO 42TREES OIL & NO OLIVES

    We did not bring any non-organic olive oils for 2024.

    So, if you prefer a milder tasting oil then your best option is to get the Last Year's IONIAN.

    We are also sold out of olives and did not order olives for 2024.  Let's hope by the time this Fall's harvest comes around that things "normalize" from where they are now.

    PRE-ORDER DEADLINE: SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2024 at 23:59:59

    You have until March 24th at midnight to place your pre-orders.

    [EXTENDED TO MONDAY, APRIL 8TH at 23:59:59]

    You can have your order shipped to your door or you can arrange a “no contact” curbside pickup in Waterloo.

     

    2024 OFFERINGS: fresh KALAMATA and Last Year's IONIAN - TASTING NOTES

       

         fresh KALAMATA            

    Last Year's IONIAN

    Here are our 2024 Tasting Notes:

    • fresh KALAMATA: (HIGH INTENSITY): smooth high intensity consisting of olive fruit, grassy and herbal flavour components, with notable bitterness, elegantly balanced and blending smoothly with its peppery finale

    • Last Year's IONIAN: (MELLOWED TO MED-HIGH INTENSITY): Last year's tasting notes described this oil as "High intensity, robust, full-flavoured, densely packed grassy, bitter fruit, and olive leaf tones, unfolding gradually with a solid peppery finish" With the passage of time this oil has mellowed and softened to medium-high intensity but it is still a very robust oil.

    THIS YEAR'S PRICES - PRE-ORDER NOW FOR SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS!

    The regular price of our 5L tins is $210 for fresh KALAMATA organic and $150 for Last Year's IONIAN organic oil (just reduced from $175).

    Pre-order prices apply ONLY for our fresh organic KALAMATA oil:

    • 1-3 Tins: $180/tin [vs $210 regular price]

    •  4+ Tins: $170/tin [vs $210 regular price] 

    • 1+ Tins IONIAN: $150/tin [reduced from $175]

    REMEMBER OUR OTHER PRODUCTS

    • 500 ml bottles of our fresh KALAMATA Organic olive oil: $35 (price same as last year)

    500ml ORGANIC KALAMATA ONLY!           

     

    Our Other Products:   

        

    • organic olive oil soap

    • 500 ml balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy

    • 200 ml balsamic vinegar from Greece, traditional Dark and White condiment balsamico (produced at a Greek winery by an Italian expert using native Greek grape varietals) [LIMITED QUANTITIES]

     

    ONLINE STORE, SHIPPING & “NO CONTACT” CURBSIDE PICKUP PROCEDURE

    The pre-order prices for the fresh oils are now in effect and will end on Sunday, March 24, 2023 at 11:59:59 pm. As you checkout from our online store you will have two options for your order:

    • 1. Ship or
    • 2. “No contact” Curbside Pickup (356 Cambria Place, Waterloo).

    If you choose “Ship”, we will notify you by email when your order has been shipped along with a tracking number so you can follow its progress to you.

    If you choose “No Contact” Curbside pickup, we will notify you by email newsletter and you will receive an individual "Your order is Ready for Pickup" email once the fresh oils are ready for pick-up.

    All you have to do is send us an email at least 24 hours before picking up to let us know which day and time you are coming, any day, seven days a week.

    Your order with your name on it will be placed on the Order Pickup Table at the side door of Deborah's house at 356 Cambria Place.

    Just pull up the driveway to the side door, look for the post-it note with your name on it from amongst the other orders and away you go!

    Please NOTE:  once you email us to let us know which date and time slot you have chosen, we will NOT email you back.  Take it as confirmed.

    Also, please remember to pick up your pre-orders as soon as reasonably possible.

    Full details on our Online Store.  

     

     

    NEDA RIVER HARVEST - NOVEMBER 8-10, 2023 - RETURN OF THE NATIVES + 1

     

    You may already know that our family's two tiny olive groves are on the north bank of the mythical Neda River.  
    The Neda River
    Messinia, Peloponisos, Greece

    Last year was the dream harvest where all the olives were picked and pressed the same day.  It was all thanks to two young, strong and very experienced Albanian brothers.  It was an amazing experience.

    A few weeks before I arrived my next-older and our youngest now-retired brother and his wife Deborah (yes, our Deborah) had cleared the groves of tall grass, thorns and giant weeds straight out of Jack and the Beanstalk.  The younger brother  (and Deborah) had returned to Canada just before the harvest.  (The youngest may also be the smartest of the brood).

    With our hyper-capable Albanian friends having moved elsewhere, this year my next-older brother and I were left to our own devices.  We hadn't planned it, but we had an ace in the hole.

    Turns out that "Tom" (his Canadian name), one of our first cousins who also lives in Canada, also happened to be visiting the village.

    This was the first time the three of us had been in the village at the same time in more than 55 years. Then, we were inseparable playmates each and every day. 

    I still have clear memories of five-year-old "Tom" pulling himself over the 8-foot stone retaining wall at the street after having escaped through a window from a locked-door grounding (which we 5-7 year-olds had declared wholly unjust without any reservations).  With his trademark tongue out to one side - his head emerged over the last course of stone lit with a Cheshire-cat smile.  And the fun began anew!...

    Now all in our early sixties, taller, rounder and thinner on top, things didn't go nearly as fast as last year, but that really didn't matter.  Not one bit.

     

     

    And how was the family olive oil, you ask? 

    We returned from the olive press to our mountain village in the late evening. Before long we sat close to a roaring wood fire.   We toasted fresh bread over the embers and drizzled murky green goodness until it ran down our fingers.  Between licks, generous pinches of dried oregano raised the flavour to godliness.

    Thicker than the slices was the nostalgia, all of us reminiscing about our childhood so long ago and the other life we might have lived...and of course, the simple satisfaction and immense gratitude for what we had just lived together.

    Thus spake our eyes, understood in silence.

    As was the sentiment, "Same time next year"!

    THANK YOU

    We thank you for your continuing interest in our products and your support. Be well.

    Robert & Deborah

    P.S. 1: This newsletter will also be posted to our NEWS page of our website.

    P.S. 2: MORE PHOTOS

     

    ...ok, ok, but they're the best french fries in the world!