Olive trees were first planted in California back in 1769. In an interview for “LA Times Today,” Evan Halper told host Lisa McRee about how California olive oil is now at the center of a debate among growers about what should be labeled as “from California.”

Halper noted that this is the biggest food fight in California since the Napa Valley Vintners got the state to ban winemakers from outside of California from labeling their products as from Napa Valley. Olive oil makers are taking a stand for their product.

“We have this industry that, 30 years ago, was just 900 acres in California,” Halper explained. “Some artisan companies brought trees over from Europe. They built this brand into something that connoisseurs have been coming and seeking out. At the same time, you had this big company, California Olive Branch, which started in 1998. They saw big opportunity in the California brand, and they’ve been marketing as such. There’s now more than 15,000 acres of trees, thanks in large part to California Olive Branch’s push. But they weren’t able one year to fill all the shelves. They’re in 30,000 stores with olive oil made with California olives. So, they were marketing this global blend that used olives from elsewhere. And the boutique growers said [California Olive Branch was] diluting the brand.”

The fight between boutique olive oil growers and California Olive Branch made its way to Sacramento and to Washington D.C. Halper detailed the political battle.

“One group, called I think it’s the Washington Legal Foundation, came out and said ‘this is outrageous what California’s trying to do,’” Halper said. “The assembly would ban California Olive Branch from using its brand on these bottles of olive oil, and how far is this going to go? Kentucky Fried Chicken’s chicken does not come from Kentucky. California Pizza Kitchen. Does all their ingredients come from California? They talked about it being a First Amendment violation, an infringement on California Olive Branch. And California Olive Branch had some lobbyists come in. The small growers have their own lobbyists, but they just didn’t have as much money to spend. It just became one of these kind of nasty fights in Sacramento.”

Fights over branding are nothing new, as Halper explained.

“These brand fights go back to the 1890s,” Halper said. “As the years or the decades went on, Europeans are very protective of their labels. The Italians are constantly trying to push back American companies that are labeling Parmesan. They’re saying Parmesan can only come from this one region. ... These fights just continue to rage.”

Eventually, a watered-down version of the labelling ban was passed. Now, the agave industry could be put in the spotlight as a proposal limits what can be called tequila.

“There’s an agave industry in California, which we’ve probably heard of but didn’t realize it was so robust," Halper explained. "It’s hard work growing agave. This proposal would create a rule that if you haven’t grown the plant in California, you can’t call your tequila a California-made agave spirit. That goes for mezcal also."

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