Know Your Olive Oil Source: La Bottega, Edible Ottawa & Our Retail Partners

A bottle can tell a compelling story. But when you buy extra virgin olive oil, the important questions go beyond the label: who produced it, who imported it, and who can explain its journey to your table?

At Ilias and Sons, “know your importer, know your source” connects our Greek family roots with the customers and retail partners who share our products. Our collaboration with La Bottega and Edible Ottawa brought that story to life through an olive oil tasting.

Sharing our olive oils with La Bottega and Edible Ottawa

This article grew from our partnership with La Bottega and Edible Ottawa, who came to sample our products with us. It was an opportunity to taste, talk about the oils and introduce the people behind Ilias and Sons.

This was a tasting collaboration, not a CFIA inspection, sampling programme or audit event. The photographs accompanying this story belong to that tasting experience.

Edible Ottawa's “Know thy importer” feature helped bring attention to the importance of understanding a food product's source. Meeting an importer and tasting the products gives that message a personal, practical dimension.

Know your importer, know your Greek olive oil source

Our family connection to Greece is central to the business. We want customers to understand the olives, the origin and the product they are choosing rather than relying on a generic Mediterranean image.

Tasting helps people explore flavour, but it is not a substitute for laboratory analysis or documented traceability. Ask where the oil comes from, what the importer can explain and whether a claim refers to a particular harvest or a historical sample.

“Organic,” “extra virgin” and “high phenolic” describe different attributes. One should not be used as a substitute for another. Our guide to authentic extra virgin olive oil explains why origin and reliable information matter more than attractive packaging alone.

Why olive oil authenticity matters

Consumers deserve the oil described on the bottle. Questions about authenticity can involve substitution with other oils, misleading origin information or whether an oil meets the quality grade it claims.

Those are different issues. A failure to meet an extra virgin quality requirement does not, by itself, establish which adulterant was present or prove deliberate fraud. Clear results should explain the test, finding and sample.

A separate experience: CFIA testing and access to records

Separately from the La Bottega and Edible Ottawa tasting, our original account reported that Ilias and Sons olive oil successfully passed CFIA testing. That historical result relates to the products sampled, not an ongoing agency endorsement or certification of every future bottle.

After successfully completing the audit, we asked CFIA for the results. They were not shared through that initial request. We had to make a formal access-to-information request to obtain the records.

According to our account of the records we obtained, other samples failed testing. We wanted clearer public information about those failures and their meaning for shoppers. In our view, testing should lead to useful consumer education rather than leave customers filling in the gaps.

Our concern about disclosure is separate from a documented claim that no enforcement took place. The findings and any regulatory follow-up need to be reviewed together before drawing that conclusion.

Putting audit findings in context

A meaningful comparison needs the sampling period, sample count, criteria and reported outcomes. An authenticity assessment and a quality-grade assessment should not be treated as identical.

Results from selected samples cannot automatically be presented as the proportion of all olive oil that is fraudulent. We believe transparency is strongest when the records and their limitations are clear.

Our retail partners: Misto Fine Foods, B&H Grocery and Foodsmiths

Alongside the La Bottega and Edible Ottawa tasting story, we are proud to highlight the retail partners who carry Ilias and Sons products: Misto Fine Foods, B&H Grocery and Foodsmiths.

These partnerships help customers discover our Greek olive oils locally and connect the product on the shelf with the people behind it.

Misto Fine Foods

Misto Fine Foods is a valued retail partner and part of our Ottawa customer experience. Our storefront also lists Ottawa local pickup at Misto Fine Foods. Check current instructions and availability before arranging pickup.

B&H Grocery

We are proud to partner with B&H Grocery to make Ilias and Sons products available through local retail. Ask the store about its current selection of our olive oils and gourmet products.

Foodsmiths

Foodsmiths is another valued partner carrying Ilias and Sons products. We appreciate its role in helping customers discover our Greek olive oils and bring them to their own tables.

Visit our Where to Find Us page for the store locator and retail network. Product selection and bottle sizes vary, so check with each partner for current stock.

Explore the flavours of Greek EVOO

7Thirty high-phenolic organic Greek extra virgin olive oil offers bold, peppery early-harvest Koroneiki character from the Peloponnese. Our 7Thirty education page provides further product context.

Gourmet Greek Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Original Blend combines Athinolia and Koroneiki olives with a fruity, grassy profile and a milder peppery finish.

For a different culinary expression, Black Garlic Infused Greek EVOO brings sweet, savoury depth to food. Our low-FODMAP garlic-oil guide explains the separate considerations for that style of cooking.

Good food starts a conversation

The tasting with La Bottega and Edible Ottawa was about sharing our products and their story. Our ongoing retail partnerships help continue that conversation.

Explore our oils directly or through Misto Fine Foods, B&H Grocery and Foodsmiths. Taste the differences, ask questions and get to know the source. Good olive oil deserves a clear story, and consumers deserve to understand it.