Radical Transparency Bears Fruit: California Olive Ranch Earns Seed Oil Free Certification

Business Wire

27-05-2025

CHICO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rooted in innovation and radical transparency, California Olive Ranch has grown into the largest domestic grower of olives for Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) by challenging industry norms, ensuring the quality, authenticity, and integrity of their products for more than 20 years. As the first retail brand offering Extra Virgin Olive Oil to earn the Seed Oil Free Certified™ Seal, California Olive Ranch continues to elevate standards with certification across their full lineup of dressings, marinades, and avocado blend cooking oils.
'The Seed Oil Free Certified seal is a trusted indicator that our products meet the highest standards for transparency and quality. It reflects our commitment to offering products aligned with consumer values.' Mary Mori, VP of Product & Quality
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'We pride ourselves on going above and beyond by proudly disclosing place-of-origin, harvest season, and quality testing results on every bottle of our cold-pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil,' said Mary Mori, VP of Product & Quality for California Olive Ranch. 'Seed Oil Free Certification guarantees customers who choose to avoid seed oils can confidently enjoy all our Extra Virgin Olive Oils, avocado blend, and vinaigrettes. It reflects our core value of radical transparency to continually verify all our products meet the highest standards of purity.'
Known for their robust quality assurance program, California Olive Ranch are the first producers of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) to earn the Seed Oil Free Certified Seal, affirming that the brands' olive oils, avocado oil, flavored oils, vinaigrettes and marinades and other ingredients are free from seed oil adulteration and meet the highest quality standards.
'The Seed Oil Free Certified Seal offers verified assurance in a market where premium oils, especially extra virgin olive and avocado oils, are being sought out by consumers for their incredible flavor, health benefits, and heat stability,' said Jonathan Rubin, CEO and founder of the Seed Oil Free Alliance. 'California Olive Ranch has led the industry in innovation, sustainability, and quality assurance for decades. This dedication to what they call 'Radical Transparency' is why California Olive Ranch makes a perfect partner for Seed Oil Free Certification.'
The certification process included lab testing for purity and comprehensive third-party audits of California Olive Ranch's supply chain and formulation practices. All tests are aligned with globally recognized standards, including the International Olive Council (IOC), Codex Alimentarius, and the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC). These protocols ensure that every Seed Oil Free Certified product is free from contamination with adulterants such as soybean, canola, and corn oil. To become Seed Oil Free Certified, the brand reformulated certain sauces and dressings by replacing carrier oils that contained trace amounts of seed oil with MCT oil.
California Olive Ranch's commitment to purity, ingredient integrity, and consumer transparency is now represented with the Seed Oil Free Certified Seal (pictured). All California Olive Ranch and Lucini products bearing the Seed Oil Free Certified Seal can be found at seedoilfreecertified.com/product-finder and grocery stores nationwide.
California Olive Ranch
Lucini
Brands like California Olive Ranch, which do not emphasize health trends around seed oils, recognize the importance of transparency in light of modern dietary shifts. Refined seed oils, virtually absent before the 20th century, now supply over 20% of daily calories for many Americans. Consumers are seeking healthy cooking oil alternatives or avoiding seed oils entirely, driven by a desire for more traditional and less industrially processed ingredients in the foods they choose.
'We rigorously evaluate all of the products made from our own cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and work closely with external certifying bodies like the Seed Oil Free Alliance because customers deserve to know they're buying the best,' said Mori. 'The Seed Oil Free Certified seal is a trusted indicator that our products meet the highest standards for transparency and quality. It reflects our commitment to offering products aligned with consumer values.'
Winner of over 260 awards at international tasting competitions, California Olive Ranch is the nation's largest producer of olives for extra virgin olive oil. As a leading innovator in olive cultivation, harvesting, and milling, the company has remained dedicated to environmental stewardship, fanatical about quality, and operated with radical transparency since its founding in 1998. In addition to Seed Oil Free Certified, the company maintains several third-party certifications that meet the industry's highest standards, including Certified Extra Virgin, Non-GMO Project Verified, USDA Organic, and Certified Regenerative by AGW.
About California Olive Ranch
Founded in 1998, California Olive Ranch is the largest grower of olives for extra virgin olive oil in the state of California. With a history of blending tradition with innovation in the cultivating, harvesting and milling of olives, the company is highly regarded for its award-winning, high quality and approachable olive oil. Selling a variety of oils, sauces, dressings and vinegars under the California Olive Ranch® and Lucini® brands, the company is committed to transparency and sustainable practices in both growing, and packaging, all while offering artisan quality at an accessible price point. California Olive Ranch also partners with numerous family farmers throughout the state of California as well as around the world to produce its products. These partners share the same high standards, sustainable farming practices and premium production methods. For more information, please visit www.californiaoliveranch.com.
About Seed Oil Free Certified™
The Seed Oil Free Alliance is a third-party certifying organization behind the world's first Seed Oil Free Certified™ Seal for qualifying food and consumer products. The Seed Oil Free Certified Seal guarantees that certified products have undergone auditing and independent laboratory testing to ensure the purity of added oils and refined fat ingredients. Supporting the Seed Oil Free Alliance in its mission to advance the availability of seed-oil-free food options through trust, transparency, and education is an advisory panel of public health and nutrition experts, led by Dr. Andrew Weil. More information can be found at seedoilfreecertified.com.