Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/102355
Q&A; Breaking New Ground BY DENISE SHOUKAS A fter living with his family in Italy in the early 1990s, Greg Hinson and his wife, Marta, came home inspired to introduce the U.S. market to citrus-crushed olive oil. Their first product, O Meyer Lemon Olive Oil, created an entirely new olive oil category in 1995. In the years since, O Olive Oil has received numerous awards and today offers 36 oils and vinegars. Marta and I had a minimalist, modernist aesthetic—a California aesthetic with no European references. So we steered away from the more rococo flourishes that tend to define olive oil branding. We wanted a cleaner design that reflected the purity of the products. We continue to win awards in design competitions. How did the introduction of the vinegar line in 1997 enhance your business? It opened up new venues for us and made it easier to market the olive oils. We have what we call "perfect pairings." For example, O Champagne Vinegar [a best seller]/O Meyer Lemon Olive Oil, O Pomegranate Vinegar/O Blood Orange Olive Oil and so on. They're simple vinaigrettes that become a sort of culinary shorthand for any beginner. What has been the biggest challenge you've faced in your business? It's been two-fold: education and trademark infringement. The first was simply accepting that pioneers and innovators by definition 156 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com Hamachi jalapeño sashimi swimming in a puddle of sudachi ponzu from a place just down the road. I'm certain it is the main course in heaven. |SFM| Denise Shoukas is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine. NSON How did you approach the packaging design? If you knew you were having your last meal, what would you choose to eat? GREG HI I did not anticipate the outright resistance I would find both from the olive oil community as well as from the more conventional, tradition-bound markets, like New York, where we were dismissed with a knowing sneer. In our own state, California, in the early years, we were barred by other producers from competing in olive oil categories, as we were not "real" olive oil. Ultimately, we are the most recognized olive oil company at the NASFT, having won 16 sofi trophies in various categories. And The New York Times featured us after our very first Fancy Food Show. The rest is history. Now many of those who barred us from competitions have developed their own crushed citrus olive oils. It turns out that imitation is the highest form of flattery. tread new ground, so to move things forward, we had to invest in educating the public in such things as the difference between a cooking oil and a finishing oil or the difference between a pickling vinegar and a fine varietal barrel-aged vinegar. In the area of trademark infringement, we are constantly battling imitators, folks who appropriate our trademark or trade dress or create cut-rate product knock-offs of our own line. There's one out there now that cuts the oil with canola oil. We have a strong legal team. We never thought that this would be an essential ingredient to surviving in the food industry, but there you have it. PHOTO: Q Did you encounter challenges by creating an entirely new category in the olive oil market?