FAQs

No, bottles are not included in the Olive Oil Club membership. Each month you’ll receive a refill pouch through your letterbox. The pouch has an easy pourer and cap, so no bottle is needed, but if you'd like to have one of our signature bottles, you can order this separately. 

We have also just launched our much requested Ceramic Pourer, custom-made by the Salgueiro family in Portugal. And shipping is free when you add any other products to your membership order. Just another perk of joining the Club.

We curate new, exciting EVOOs from small-batch producers that change every month. This means you can expect as many as 12 per year.

As the nature of the harvest, and the size of our community changes, the amount of oil we get each year varies.

Whilst there may be the odd occasion where you receive the same oil twice, you will certainly get to try many different regions, styles, and varieties throughout the year.

Currently, we can't offer a choice of oil in our Olive Oil Club due to the nature of supporting small-batch producers and planning all the oil with them at their annual harvest. The Club is a discovery membership showcasing different producers, regions, olive varietals, flavour notes and nutritional profiles.

If you would be interested in a more specific offering, such as organic-only or higher-polyphenol contents, please reach out as we’re always interested in hearing more from our community about their interests and how we can source better for the future.

Unfortunately, we're not able to send our oils outside of the UK at this time, but we hope we can find a solution in the future. In the meantime, you can purchase our Greek EVOO through Selfridges or Fortnum and Mason for international orders.

This link takes you directly to the membership side of your account, where you can update your account information, reschedule delivery dates, pause or skip, as well as adding in any additional pouches or products. Alternatively, you can access your account using the account button in the upper right-hand corner of our website. In case of any issues, please contact oliveus@citizensofsoil.com.

We send through the upcoming oil in our newsletter, so keep an eye on your inboxes at the end of every month to see what’s coming up next! If you didn’t receive this email please contact us so we can check your email subscription settings.

We’re so happy you want to spread the EVOO love. 

We have 3, 6, and 12 month gift subscriptions available. Your friend will be emailed on the date of your choosing with a redemption link. Once activated, they’ll receive a Club pouch every month for the duration of the gift. 

There’s also an option to add in special olive oil tasting cups or a ceramic pourer at checkout if you want a little something extra to go with the oil.

Heat, light, and air are the main enemies of extra virgin olive oil. Our pouches will keep your EVOO in top condition, just make sure to avoid storing it next to the oven. 

EVOO is extremely sensitive to light so if you’re wanting a more aesthetic option in your kitchen, we recommend decanting your EVOO into a darkly-coloured wine bottle (contact us if you would like to purchase a stopper/pourer), or an opaque option like our Portuguese ceramic pourer.

Our producers all farm  using regenerative practices without any synthetics or chemical "cides".

This year, our core Greek and Spanish EVOO and Italian, Sicilian, and Portuguese Extra Rare EVOO are all certified organic and Soil Association certified.

As we only work with small-scale farms, some have not yet been certified—which is why we cannot legally say that our Olive Oil Club oils are organic.Many of them, though, are well on their way in the conversion and audit process (it takes a few years), so we hope to have even more certified organic oils soon.

In short, yes. There is no heat or chemicals used to extract our extra virgin olive oils. And we have third-party lab reports open for each oil to showcase that.

However, this term is really just a marketing buzzword (particularly when used by other non-olive oils).

Welcome to the fascinating, yet very confusing world of extra virgin olive oil. We wrote an article all about the term "cold-pressed" if you'd like to read up in detail. By legal definition in the EU, extra virgin olive oil must be extracted without any heat or chemicals and only comes from the “first pressing” (more like crushing) of the olives—which is exactly the definition of how to make our EVOOs.

Yes, and please do. In fact, because of its antioxidants, EVOO is the healthiest fat you can cook with. Read our blog for more details and explanation about that misleading "smoke point" conversation. There’s also two great podcasts from Zoe and Dr Simon Poole on the subject.

All of our EVOOs are considered to be high in polyphenols since they are well over the benchmark of 250mg/kg of total polyphenols that's been set by the EU Regulation (No. 432/2012).

The highest polyphenol oil we have is our Portuguese Extra Rare that comes in at 958mg/kg (currently sold out until the new harvest). Other high-polyphenol options are our Organic Spanish EVOO with 661 mg/kg, or our Tuscan Extra Rare with 655 mg/kg of total polyphenols. You can read the lab analysis for each of our oils in the ‘Heath and Nutrition’ section on the product page.

The harvest date refers to the month the olives were harvested from the groves. There's one harvest each year. In the Mediterranean, this takes place any time from September until January, depending on the region, weather, and varietal. Changes in the climate mean that year on year, the harvest is occurring earlier, with some harvests occurring as early as September. In the southern hemisphere, the harvest will typically take place between April and July.

The best before date for extra virgin olive oil is 18- 24 months. You can expect a decrease in polyphenol levels over this time, as well as some softening in the flavour profile. But with the quality of our oils and how we store them, they will still be something to enjoy for that duration if it’s unopened. Once opened, all extra virgin olive oils should be used within 3 months.

Older leftover EVOO is a great option for cooking with (see our blog on the subject), keeping fresh new harvest EVOO for finishing and drizzling.

Extra virgin olive oil is like a fresh-pressed juice. Soon after harvest it will be at its brightest and most vibrant. The colour does start to fade soon after but colour is no indicator of quality. While it does tell you how close to harvest it was made, olive varietals have different colours and will hold this colour for differing lengths of time. Most oils start to mellow in colour even within a couple of weeks.

Our ceramic is dishwasher safe, but simply rinsing with soap and hot water is recommended. For the Olive Oil Club, we recommend washing your ceramic or bottle after each new oil. If you are topping up with a refill or our Greek or Spanish EVOO we recommend every 3 months.

Return and recycle them in three simple steps:

1. Save a few pouches up (the more, the better).

2. Write FREEPOST SAVEOURSOIL on the parcel (bonus points for reusing an old box!)

3. Pop this in your nearest post box—no postage required.

There's also an option to drop off at some soft plastic recycling points around the country, so check those out here.Find out more about our pouches and how we recycle them here.

Due to the nature of extra virgin olive oil, these multi-layer plastic pouches are the best solution available. We've spoken to olive oil and sustainability experts alike—and this is the best format to keep the oil in its top-quality condition while keeping the carbon impact and packaging waste low.

The pouch is made from PET12/7ALU/ 15NY/ PE120.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of EVOO, it cannot be stored in compostable or plant-based options on the market at this time.

We are actively looking for an even better alternative. If you know of any food-grade, hardy materials for fresh oils—drop us a line.