From a cultural viewpoint, olive oil, like wine and pasta, is “an envoy of ‘made in Italy,’” he mentioned, and associating with “a colossus like Starbucks” might enhance the visibility of Italian olive oil producers.
Some olive oil producers are intrigued by the brand new horizons that would open from including olive oil to espresso, “a really difficult innovation” that would relaunch olive oil’s picture “particularly amongst younger folks,” Anna Cane, president of the olive oil group of the Italian Association of the Edible Oil Industry, mentioned in an electronic mail. That mentioned, the affiliation, generally known as Assitol, famous that olive oil had already migrated from the salad bowl to extra progressive makes use of, together with panettone, the Italian Christmas cake, and cocktails like “drinkable pizza,” concocted for Assitol primarily based on olive and tomato. “Oil dream,” a cocktail utilizing grapefruit and olive oil, is predicted to be offered this yr.
However not everyone seems to be enthusiastic concerning the new merchandise.
“On one hand, it’s good, as a result of individuals are talking about espresso. On the opposite, it takes away a slice of the market, as a result of for those who’re ingesting that product, you’re not ingesting espresso,” mentioned Giorgio Caballini di Sassoferrato, the founder and president of a consortium that’s making an attempt to influence UNESCO, the United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group, to acknowledge espresso as a part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Conventional Italian espresso is not only any espresso, they declare. “It’s a tradition, a ritual, a social custom,” he mentioned. “It’s not a product, it’s a system,” during which class and monetary standing don’t depend. For essentially the most half, “wealthy or poor, folks drink espresso in bars.” It sometimes prices between round one euro or simply above; Starbucks is significantly pricier.
Espresso with olive oil, however, left Mr. Caballini di Sassoferrato “a bit perplexed,” he mentioned.
