On-Tap Olive Oil Regulations Update

The new regulations, being put into place on 13th December 2014, state that extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, olive oil composed of refined olive oils and virgin olive oils, and olive pomace oil must not be sold on-tap.

Infused olive oils may still be sold on-tap, but must conform to the new rules regarding labelling.

Craig Riches, director of Deli-cious OnTap said, “As the UK’s main OnTap specialist producer & supplier to retailers, the new OnTap regulations obviously will have an impact for us as a supplier, our retailer customers and ultimately their customers. We will stop promoting and supplying Pure EVOO in bulk to our OnTap retailers after the 13th December.

“For us as a business and our wholesaler distributor, Anthony Rowcliffe however, the Pure EVOO demand in our OnTap assortment as a percentage is actually quite small.

“In our OnTap Oils assortment, our speciality is in offering Flavoured Extra Virgin Olive Oils, and consumer demand for these is equally high in the UK. Thankfully, these types of oils are not affected by the EU legislation (apart from a few new labelling requirements), and it will still be legal to offer them “OnTap”.

“We have made sure that all our merchandising for our OnTap customers has been brought into line with this legislation, and we will make it available for free to replace any existing merchandising, for any of our customers that have concerns.

“We fully expect the demand and popularity for our flavoured olive oils to continue to grow every year as it has done so since we started.

“I just hope that the retailers and consumers do not suffer from possible price increases for pre-bottled Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil as a result of this EU directive and the actions of the RPA coming into force.”

For more information about the new regulations, visit www.gov.uk/olive-oil-regulations-and-inspections#on-tap-olive-oil