2013 Olive Oil Summit!

Some tickets still available for our summit (July 27) and the 1 Day ONAOO course (July 28)!!

WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE LINE-UP FOR OUR 2013 OLIVE OIL SUMMIT! 

Tom Mueller, author of Extra Virginity

Tom Mueller is a freelance writer who has lived in and around the Mediterranean, mostly in Italy, for the last two decades. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic, and other publications. He lives in Liguria in a stone medieval farmhouse surrounded by olive groves.

Leandro Ravetti, Executive Director of Boundary Bend Limited

Leandro Ravetti graduated as an Agricultural Engineer in Argentina. He worked for the National Institute of Agricultural Technology in olive production research and advised many of the country’s largest olive developments from 1995 until he moved to Australia in 2001. In Australia, Leandro leads the Modern Olives technical team, which provides horticultural and olive specific technical advice to most of the largest olive groves and olive oil processing plants in the country. Leandro has also been involved as adviser, researcher and invited speaker in most other new olive industries such as New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, Chile and USA. Leandro has been Executive Director of Boundary Bend Limited, Australia’s leading fully integrated olive company, since 2005 and alternate director of the Australian Olive Association since 2009. During 2010 and 2011, Leandro was Drafting Leader of the new Australian Standard for Olive Oil.

Paul Vossen, UCCE Farm Advisor

 Paul Vossen has been a University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor in Sonoma and Marin Counties since 1980. He was one of the founders of the California Olive Oil Council in 1990. He has developed statewide and international expertise in olive oil production, processing and sensory evaluation, including management of the first olive oil taste panel in the USA to become recognized by the International Olive Oil Council in 2001.

Richard Cantrill, Chief Science Officer &

Technical Director of AOCS

Richard Cantrill holds a Bsc. Honors in biochemistry and a PhD in lipid metabolism from Sheffield University, UK. Since 1996, Cantrill has been the current Technical Director of the AOCS (American Oil Chemists' Society) which performs method collaborative studies according to international guidelines and maintains the Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the AOCS, Laboratory Proficiency Programs together with chemist and laboratory certification programs. He is author of more than 90 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters and is a regular speaker at scientific conferences.

Richard Gawel, Presiding Olive Oil Judge, Researcher,

Tasting Wheel Author

Richard Gawel is a long time appointee as presiding judge of most of Australia’s major olive oil competitions – the Australian National, Royal Adelaide, Royal Perth, and Royal Canberra. He is also an invited head judge at the Los Angeles International, Japan International, and New Zealand National extra virgin olive oil competitions. He trained and headed Australia’s first International Olive Council (IOC) recognized extra virgin certification tasting panel since its inception in 1997 until 2006, and trained the current Australian taste panel that has since been accredited by the IOC. Richard is a former lecturer in sensory science at the University of Adelaide, and Food and Wine Studies at the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. He regularly conducts industry seminars and workshops in basic and advanced olive oil tasting, blending, and olive oil show judging. Richard has authored a number of refereed scientific papers on the use and interpretation of the language used in sensory assessment, on the consistency of expert tasters in judging situations and on bitterness and pungency in olive oils. He is also the author of the “olive oil tasting wheel” and currently is a full time research scientist working on taste active polyphenols.

Mary M. Flynn, PhD, RD, LDN, Associate Professor of Medicine

Mary M. Flynn, PhD, RD, LDN is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Clinical) at Brown University and a research dietitian at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI.   She teaches nutrition courses at Brown University and lectures in the medical school.  Her main research interest is how food can be used as medicine.  She has developed a plant-based, olive oil diet that she has been using in research since 2003.  Her current research interests are using her diet to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer and to decrease food insecurity in low-income populations.  She is co-author of the books “LOW-FAT LIES, high fat frauds and the healthiest diet in the world” (Lifeline Press, 1999) and “A Pink Ribbon Diet” (Da Capo Press, October 2010).   She founded and oversees “The Olive Oil Health Initiative of The Miriam Hospital at Brown University”, which educates health professionals and the lay public on the health benefits of olive oil and advocates for the use of olive oil in preventive medicine.

Michael Rae, A Decades-long Veteran of the Anti-aging & nutritional fields

With professional experience in dietary supplement formulation, science communications, and biomedical literature analysis, who served several years on the Board of an international nutrition organization. Cutting through the false promises, cherry-picking, ideologically-driven dietary advice, and magical thinking that permeate the dietary supplement and health food industries, Hob uses his background in biology to weigh the evidence and develop evidence-based nutrition guidance. He ranks ultra-premium extra-virgin olive oil as one of the few treasures in a sea of snake oil and empty promises.

Mauro Amelio, The Scientific Activities Leader

A Graduate in Chemistry, Mauro Amelio has been dealing with physical-chemical quality control, sensory evaluation and manufacturing process of a primary Italian olive oil company for many years. Since 1993, he has co-operated with ONAOO as a teacher, taster and scientific advisor. In 1997 he received the Panel Leader qualification by the International Olive Council (IOC). He is also co-author of scientific papers on methods to analyze olive oils. “The oldest olive oil tasting school in the world has developed a training methodology over the years that deals with every phase of the production process for olive oil, developing the various themes from the standpoint of being completely open towards the Mediterranean and extra-Mediterranean production areas.” http://www.oliveoil.org/eng/home.asp

WITH OLIVE OIL PRODUCERS FROM AUSTRALIA, CALIFORNIA, CHILE, PERU, SOUTH AFRICA, & SPAIN!