High Polyphenol Spotlight: Opus Oléa Olive Oil

I’m always looking for the UK’s healthiest and highest quality high polyphenol oils to list on the website. Some of these you won’t find in the supermarkets or listed on Amazon as they’re small family-based operations that ship the oil to the UK and sell online only.

Astrid from Opus Live Well is a perfect example of olive oil producers like this. Not long ago, she reached out asking for Opus Oléa to be listed on the website—drawing my attention to the very respectable polyphenol value of 484 mg/Kg.

I'm always careful about the oils I list on the website, as I want only the best listed, and opt to keep some of the overpriced or unfiltered oils unlisted. But, as I started digging into Opus Live Well, a few things stood out to me.

Firstly, the ultra-low acidity of 0.2%. With acidity, lower is better because it gives the oil a longer shelf life. In order to be called ‘extra virgin’ an oil needs to have an acidity value of 0.8% or lower—so 0.2% is very good. Producers can only achieve values like this by handling the olives carefully and extracting the oil within hours of being picked.

Secondly, but potentially most importantly, price. Opus Oléa is currently selling for under £17 for a 500ml bottle, with further discounts if you buy in bulk. This is a very fair price for a high polyphenol, low acidity, single variety, and award-winning oil (Gold Award at London IOOC 2022).

In fact, Astrid explained the polyphenols in the oil would usually be higher but this year's harvest weather conditions were challenging. For this reason the oil falls just short of the top 5 oils currently on the website. Despite this, I thought to myself that a well-rounded oil like this that is not only high polyphenol but possesses all other indicators of quality (low acidity, filtered, single-origin 100% Koroneiki olives) needed to be more prominent on the site. Astrid was open to this and we agreed to feature the oil on the homepage, and in our newsletter. It has been selling well since and people seem happy with it—making a great addition to the website.

If you want to take a look at the high polyphenol Opus Oléa, you can find the single bottle here—or the 6-bottle pack here (that works out a lot cheaper per 100ml). Garlic, chilli, and other infusions are also available.