Pompeian Olive Oil

A focus on quality from grove to bottle is paramount for the Pompeian team led by (from left) Vice President of Operations Kevin Lydon, President Frank Patton, and Quality Manager Elyse Allen. Photos by Bob Stockfield

Fine wines are rated and ranked with vintage year as a main consideration, because the quality of the grapes harvested each year are a key component in the final quality of the wine. Weather, soil conditions, timing of the harvest—all impact the grape that makes up the wine.

Like the grapes of wine, olives which are pressed into oil will vary year to year and grove to grove. But unlike wine, consumers don't buy olive oil with an eye to its vintage year, rather they expect every year and every bottle to have the quality and flavor profile they expect from a particular brand.

"Consistency is one of our most important aspects," said Pompeian Inc. Vice President of Operations Kevin Lydon. "We have to keep the quality the same no matter where the oil came from."

"Pompeian olive oil has a very consistent flavor profile," added Quality Manager Elyse Allen. With oils coming from various regions, it is a balancing act to keep oils in stock that create the perfect blend. "Extra virgin olive oil can be very pungent depending on where it comes from," she said. Even the freshness of the oil can have an impact, with olives from the same crop harvested at different points during the season having different flavor profiles.

While taste is subjective, it is critical to maintain the organoleptic qualities that customers come to expect. "Everything we do is to keep our product consistent," Allen said. "Every time you buy that product, you will get the same thing."
 

Hands-On Field Inspection. Pompeian is owned by two of the largest olive-oil producing families in the Mediterranean, the Moreno family of Spain, and the Devico family with interests in Morocco and Argentina. This means, said President Frank Patton, that Pompeian owners conduct "hands-on inspections of the olives." They are personally in the groves—their own and others in the region, controlling the supply; selecting those which best meet Pompeian quality profiles; and monitoring the growth, harvest, and press of the olives.

While 95 to 98 percent of Pompeian's olives are grown in the Mediterranean, the company also sources olives from Argentina. Because the seasons of the two locales vary, with Mediterranean harvests running from November to February and South American harvests in May and June, blending of different harvests can maintain a greater freshness during the Mediterranean off-season. In addition, Patton said, samples of a selected olive from one region can be sent to another so the flavor profile can be matched for the best blend.

As a low-risk food, the key controls at Pompeian are focused on quality, and unlike wine, olive oil does not get better with age. An older oil will still be safe to use, but it can start to lose some of its organoleptic qualities over time, with the taste becoming less fruity. It is for that reason, and the ability to maintain quality from the grove, that, unlike most olive oils which are brought into the U.S. pre-bottled, Pompeian's oil is shipped in bulk, then blended and bottled in its 200,000-square-foot Baltimore facility.

"We can get to market quickly, providing a fresh olive oil," Patton said. The bulk oil can be shipped to Pompeian's Baltimore plant almost as quickly as to the facility of a European bottling plant, then, once bottled, can be on store shelves in days. In fact, most of Pompeian's finished product leaves its warehouse within two weeks. In addition, the oils from the different harvests and hemispheres can be custom blended to specifically meet Pompeian's taste profiles.
 

Process Quality. Pompeian's focus on quality does not end with the arrival of the bulk oil at the plant, rather this is the beginning of the next set of quality testing, sampling, and processing. The plant has undergone significant expansion and renovation over the last four years, including rerouting of its lines for efficiency, expansion of its processing and warehouse areas, robotization of its packaging, and incorporation of a bottle blower to ensure hands-on control of quality in every aspect of the process.

"To control quality, we have to control everything," Lydon said. In-house bottle molding is fairly common in Europe, but it is just beginning to take hold in the U.S. The plastic arrives at the plant in test-tube-shaped forms, which are then heated and air-blown into custom molds for Pompeian's one-half- to five-liter bottles. "It has given us the flexibility to go into other avenues, while controlling the quality of packaging from field to store shelf," Lydon said. "With the programming we've built in, we can control the quality of the bottle to near perfection."

When the bottle moves on to the filler, a load-cell system there retests the bottles for specified tolerances. If the bottle is within tolerance, it moves on; if not, it is not filled. The filler is also so precisely programmed that the last drops of oil that drip into each bottle are calculated to take it to the exact fill weight—within one gram.

Pompeian's in-house bottle molding and switch to load-cell technology enable this precision, ensuring the value of a complete fill for the customer (and to meet federal fill regulations), while providing monetary savings for Pompeian by eliminating overfill.

Prior to reaching the point at which the olive oil is dispensed into bottles, however, Pompeian oil is run through a number of plant processes and improvements to ensure quality:
 

• In the Lab. The most important step in the blending of any product, Allen said, is "verifying that we are within specification." This is done through both analytical and organoleptic testing. The blends undergo smell, taste, and visual testing and sampling by test panels who are trained to pick up the potential "musty, fusty" aspect of a less-than-quality oil.
 

• Oil and Vinegar Don't Mix. Pompeian produces both oils and vinegars. While the relative properties of the two may naturally separate these liquids, the associated odors of vinegar can impact the qualities of the oil. To enable the processing of both products in the same plant without reducing quality, Pompeian has separated the two as distinct glassed-in units, with separate ventilation systems in each, and an aisleway between the two. While ensuring that the properties of the oil and vinegar don't mix, the set-up also provides an open feel for both sections and enables manager or visitor viewing without disturbing production.
 

• The CCP: A Second Filtration. Providing for both food safety and food quality, Pompeian's pre-bottling, second filtration is its only CCP, Allen said. Because the olive oil runs through a closed system, the only hazard would be the introduction of a metal from Pompeian's all-metal equipment. Thus, the filtration screens out any potential contaminant. However, it also has the additional function of improving the appearance of the final product by "polishing" the oil to give it a "crisp, polished look," Lydon said. Although cloudiness in an olive oil does not denote it as being of inferior quality, consumers generally prefer and equate quality with product clarity.
 

• Changeover. When a product changeover is made, the new product cannot be run until it is approved by quality assurance personnel. "We are very, very strict as far as verification," Lydon said.
 

• Blending. "We are big enough that we can afford to try things, but we're small enough that we can have it out quickly," Patton said, explaining that the company can—and has—taken a product from the roots of an idea to store shelves within about three months, including development, testing, quality control, labeling, etc. "That's what makes it fun," he said. The company currently introduces seven to ten new products each year, and it would be open to products outside its current oil and vinegar lines, "if an opportunity arises that would meet our profile, add to our oil and vinegar lines, enhance food, and be healthy," Patton said.
 

• Automation. Pompeian's first purchase in its renovations was that of a robotic palletizer in 2008. The palletizer significantly improved efficiencies, but, Lydon said, "by automating the line, we didn't remove people. Instead we used them to increase our operations."
 

• Pompeian Pride. At Pompeian, pride is not just a word, it is an acronym for the way employees work: Personally take Responsibility and Initiative to Drive Excellence. Line operators are empowered to take responsibility, to check product, and pull anything off the line that appears to be out of tolerance for any reason, said Production Manager Bruce Holder. Taking responsibility also means taking ownership and working toward continuous improvement. "I don't want a suggestion box," Holder says to line workers. "I want you to talk with me, then hold me accountable to get the barriers out of your way."
 

• Visitor Center. In the past, Pompeian was a popular venue for school and convention tours. In recent years, such visits had declined, but with the plant's building of a new visitor center, Patton is hoping to rebuild such visits, expand its general tours, and host culinary schools in the center's working kitchen. The center, expected to be completed by June 2012, will also include an educational museum, depicting the history and making of olive oil; a tasting room; and a large conference meeting room.
 

Standards and Regulation. Olive oil is one of the few foods that is subject to international standards. Regulated by the International Olive Council (IOC), the global governing body for olive oil, the IOC is an intergovernmental organization which sets definitions and standards for its members, which account for 98 percent of olive production. While the council governs the overall production of olives, its primary focus is on standardization of definition and preventing adulteration of the olive oils, because, as Patton said, "It's difficult to adulterate an olive."

However, he added, "Olive oil is a small portion of the dollar volume of oils sold in grocery stores, but there are lots of chances for cheating and adulteration, so there is constant vigilance."

In addition to meeting the standards of the IOC, U.S. olive oil producers are overseen by both the USDA and the FDA. With a strong focus on the standards set by the IOC, new USDA standards took effect in October, 2010, defining olive oil as "the oil obtained solely from the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.), to the exclusion of oils obtained using solvents or re-esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds" and meeting minimum requirements. In addition, the regulation set specific standards for labeling of the olive oils by grade, including the food grades of extra virgin, virgin, olive oil, and refined olive oil. (See The Making and Defining of Olive Oil, Sidebar.)
 

Continued Growth. The improvements made at the Pompeian plant have enabled it to double its output over the last five years, and it is expecting to double it again over the next three. "A lot of companies are trying to stay afloat, we're trying to stay up with our increased sales," Holder said.

At Pompeian, “pride” means Personally take Responsibility and Initiative to Drive Excellence.

In fact, Patton said, "much of the revitalization of the plant was for future growth—which is really not the future, but is happening today."

Olive oil sales have climbed in the last 20 years and exploded in the last five, Patton said. The use of the oil on televised cooking shows, such as those on The Food Network, and the popularity of those shows "have really helped the olive oil industry," he said.

"Olive oil is a market that is continuing to grow, and we want to expand with it," Lydon said.

Like wine, "there is a tremendous amount of romance with olive oil," he said. It is a romance based on history and predicated by a growing health consciousness and scientifically documented health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. It is one factor of the continuing growth of olive oil consumption in the U.S. and around the world. And it is a future of which Pompeian is excited to be a part.

The author is Editor of QA magazine. She can be reached at llupo@gie.net.