Day 7 - The Olive Oil Journey

6/13/22 Immediate Personal Reflection after Fancy Food Conference (Day 2/3)

It's so important to build your company with a strong emphasis on details…Exhibit A the chickpea / date company whose second ingredient is some certified palm shortening --> in essence scam-certified cheap bs fat. Remember Brand = Trust!

If you have limited resources, you maximize the use of those resources to develop from the ground up as opposed to overdependence on resources whose absence (money and influence) would completely hinder growth. Companies basically use money, influence, and market forces in order to gain momentum, but this falters once **** takes a turn.

The counterargument to this is actually posing a viable solution to a problem, through testing, adjustment and iteration.

Start small. It's like big market vs small market MLB (Major League Baseball) teams. I'd rather start with a small market team mindset willing to spend less but use analytics (think Billy Beane in the Movie / Book Moneyball - but for Olive Oil) in order to position myself well to take on more $ and confidently deploy resources that will more naturally bolster momentum.

Day 7

Granada, Andalusia, Spain | October 31st, 2022

1:45 am - Blog Published, but there's a major typo that pissed me off. Welp.

Quick aside on cats - when I was looking at Workaways the biggest problem I faced was cats in the house. There were more often cats than internet available...craziness.

In case anyone is not aware, a Workawayer is a traveler who wants to give back to a community they visit. As a Workawayer you help your host with whatever they need which allows you to fully immerse yourself in the local culture and travel on a budget.

At this workaway I was told cats were outdoor cats.

But not at 5:45 am on my final morning 3.5 hours into my sleep when I wake up sneezing like an mfer and a cat is laying on the clothing inside my open suitcase (missed the photo opportunity). Probably slept in bed with me for all I know.

6am I hike to the bus

Bus observation

People hate feet on chairs here. Got some interesting Spanish phrases said to me so I went back into normal sitting formation.

Mid-bus ride note to self

I'm on a bus right now on the way back to Jaen. I honestly have no clue where I'm going. I have 7 days until my class in Valencia and I've been fielding calls from Italy about potential visits or "farmstays" but I just can't commit to them, my gut says no for now, so it's a no. Italy will have to wait another 2 weeks.

Extremadura and Lisbon are West, Malaga and Granada South, Madrid North, and plenty of coastal towns around them. I'm in Europe until mid-December, and I don't see myself spending much time away from producers given my projected itinerary. I'm ripping these blogs very very late night and should probably decompress from this experience. I think the logical step is Granada today and Hostel or Hotel there. Perhaps now is the time to give myself some better sleeping quarters than the Cortijo.

Sidenote look closely at this picture mid-bus ride.

That's a reservoir, and I don't see water. Water levels are critically low out here. There are even rivers that are just completely dry. Olive production is down, prices up. Tough conditions right now and I feel for these growers.

9:15 am - I see a sign for an Olive Oil festival in Jaen on November 5th (no picture). Perfect! I now have a great weekend plan which segways well into time in Valencia.

Just have to figure out Monday - Friday

9:20: I get to the bus station and see a 9:30 bus to Granada. I had spoken with others in Quesada and they said Malaga and Granada are awesome. No time to think, just do.

9:29 am. Boarded the bus to Granada. I was so on time that the bus started moving before I got my seat. Classic me.

Afternoon

Masks are kinda mandatory on public transportation in Spain. Did not prepare for that so I've been bumming masks off anyone I can, though I still don't know the proper word for it in Spanish - I just point to my face. I found a hostel on the 1.5-hour bus ride to Granada. Then once I got to Granada, I had to cross one of those quiet holy church areas filled with violinists and locals passing out "free rosemary" (which tbh is more tempting than free pictures with Elmo in Times Square).

Typical but beautiful. But there was me dragging my wheeled-away bag across the cobblestone, completely destroying the vibe for everyone.

Pics of the day

Met a south African kid (Striped shirt) who spoke perfect English. What a refreshing conversation given my experience in Quesada. I ended up speaking Spanish with most people who claimed to speak English as I knew more Spanish than they knew English.

Sacromonte Gypsy Cave are the first two pics below:

I tried to do laundry while charging my phone (meaning I relied on the hostel concierge directions on a map) and after 10 minutes of searching (didn't have it in me to ask outdoor diners for help), I walked back to the hostel and grabbed my phone for directions.

I successfully arrive, only to learn the laundry place (not on maps) only accepts cash, I go to ATM and my debit card is getting declined (tried 4 times). OK Jack, breathe...laundry isn't meant to be done today. Moving on.

Vietnamese (Restaurant: It's Vietnam) for din and 10/10 would recommend (rookie score I know).

After dinner we heard a boom and a crowd with phones emerged. I had to see it.

Wow a literal dumpster fire. Sucks. Once I heard a second boom, it was time to leave. Low key Halloween for me.

1 Olive Oil Takeaway:

Extra Light (or "refined") Olive Oil is not healthy. Olive Oil is not like Ice Cream vs Frozen Yogurt. Or Coke vs Diet Coke.

Extra Light Olive Oil is processed lower quality Olive Oil.

Non-fat Olive Oil doesn't exist (to my knowledge) as Olive Oil literally is liquid unsaturated fat (liquid gold!). Compromising the Olive Oil is compromising antioxidants. Healthiness ~ oil quality.

@RJBarrett I hope you could learn from this (call this takeaway my thread).

-Jack

Thank you for reading and welcome to the blog! I'm traveling through Europe on a quest to find great Olive Oil. Reply to this email with any questions / feedback!

If you're a new reader, I'd recommend going back to Day 1 by clicking the first button above and reading sequentially.