Business & Tech
Olive Oil of the World Comes to PepsiCo Farmers Market
Ersilia Moreno, owner of Olive Oil of the World, is the Pepsico Farmers Market's newest vendor. She's bringing a unique array of 40 varieties of high-quality, fair-trade oils and vinegars to her booth each week.
Just like a purveyor of fine wine, Ersilia Moreno knows her olive oils. But the story of her company, Olive Oil of the World, all started with a bottle of balsamic vinegar.
"Four years ago I tasted that balsamic vinegar and went on a mission to find the source," Moreno said.
She ended up in Modena, Italy, where the 12-year aged balsamic vinegar she had tasted is made in small batches.
That was two years ago, and last April she decided to close her accounting firm in order to follow her passion for good food made of high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients. She spends winters in Palm Beach, Florida, jet sets during the month of May, and returns to Westchester in the summers.
And now she sells those 250mL bottles of balsamic vinegar at the PepsiCo Farmers market every Tuesday, along with 40 varieties of extra virgin olive oil. Moreno can tell you a story about each of them and describe their complex flavors--from buttery to fruity to grassy--to a tee.
She explained that there are 24 countries in the world that grow olives and that she's visited or met with the owners of each of the small-scale farms that grow the olives and produce the oil that she imports for sale in the U.S.
"It's very important for me to know the source," said Moreno.
Her recent travels took her to Palestine and she now sells an organic, fair-trade olive oil from the Rumi tree that's made on a co-op consisting of both Palestinian and Israeli farmers. She sees this partnership as a sign that peace in such a volatile area is possible.
She's also been to Morocco, Greece and Italy and is now planning a trip to Lebanon and Syria. As a part of her company's Olive Oil Country Tours, she's planning group trips to the olive oil harvests of the Italian regions of Marche, Umbria and Lazio during October and November.
The tours speak to Moreno's vision of educating people on the many benefits of using high-quality olive oils.
"I want everybody to use olive oil," she said. "My motto is to sell a bottle for no more than $25."
