Meet Olive Oil Expert Lori Jean Levy

Lori Jean Levy

From lawyer to customs broker to expert judge for the US International Olive Oil Competition—Lori Jean Levy’s decades-long career in olive oil has brought her both professional success and personal joy. Olive Oil Professor first spoke with Levy to learn about her work with Women In Olive Oil (WIOO), and we were eager to learn more about her background and her experiences in the olive oil industry.

Lori Jean Levy started her career as a lawyer specializing in international trade and customs. She eventually became a licensed U.S. Customs Broker, handling the complicated logistics and legal requirements necessary for importing products into the United States.

In 2010 she pivoted to a position with Fairway Market, serving as the grocery chain’s Director of Trade and Product Development. “I found myself in Europe, and around the world, starting to help Fairway curate their oils, vinegars, and specialty imports—it was easier to send me to the source,” she says. “Olive oil became something that I became very deeply rooted in and loved. [...] It really became a passion that grew with every exposure.”

After her time at Fairway, Levy founded My Global Table, a specialty food importer, in 2014. She estimates that about 80% of her focus is on olive oil, and she expects that to increase to 95-100% in the future. “Diving deeper into olive oil has only brought more joy into my life,” she says, adding that seeing olive oil become more popular in the U.S. has been “a really beautiful thing to watch.”

At My Global Table, Levy works with foreign producers who want to export their products to the U.S. and find retail placement, as well as U.S. retailers who want to source a specific imported product or create a private label program.

“I’m very excited about a private label collection that I have built in Connecticut for Garafalo Markets, they’re eight independently owned ShopRites,” she says. “For pretty much the same price as the lower quality oils, they could bring in these great oils from some different locations and start educating their consumers about why extra-virgin, and then why from different places and [about the] flavor profiles. We started with a Greek house blend, a Sicilian Italian, and the exciting part, we did a blend from South Africa [...] What’s happening is that we’re finding customers are seeking out these eight ShopRites for their olive oil.”

In addition to her work with producers and retailers, Levy has a consumer-facing website, Portfolio, which she soft-launched to friends and family on February 1. “Portfolio came about to answer the wishes of friends and family who wanted access to some of these beautiful products that I’ve been putting into retailers around the country,” she explains. “I never really had a direct-to-consumer line—I wasn’t interested in developing that side of the business. Something changed in my mind around the time of the pandemic and in my thinking about education and about what a website could be and what it could mean.”

She envisions Portfolio not only as a storefront, but as a source of reliable information about olive oil. “I have all of this knowledge that I’ve gained doing all these really fascinating jobs throughout my career over a few decades, and having Portfolio was the way to share that journey,” she says. “I can show people what it means to be a small producer, to be a medium size producer, to be a big producer. [I can explain] the difference between commodity oils and very high-end small producer oils.”

Levy also tapped her industry expertise to judge last year’s US International Olive Oil Competition. Samples of the oils entered in the competition were mailed to each judge to taste and evaluate over an approximately two-week time frame.

“I did my very best to spread it out over that time, because there comes the point when you’re tasting oils where your palate just isn’t as sharp,” she says. “I tried to taste just a handful a day and take notes.” She appreciated the variety of the submissions, and hopes more and more brands enter future USI Olive Oil Competitions.

“What’s great about that particular competition is that you don’t have to be on the store shelf yet—you can send your oil in and have a panel of knowledgeable judges reflect back to you before you’ve made all that investment in the market,” she says. “That might help guide your choices for production and sizing or whatever your takeaway might be.”

Looking to the future, Levy is excited to return to Spain this year to reconnect with producers, some of whom she met in 2018. “I had a very memorable experience at Nobleza del Sur,” she says. “I met [director of operations] Lola Sagra and I became enamored with her farm and her history and the fact that there’s a woman at the helm of this company that’s been around since the mid-1600s […] It’s a beautiful piece of land, she is a very serious olive oil maker, and it’s a pristine facility.”

Levy’s upcoming travel plans also include visiting LIÁ in Greece and hopefully, Rio Largo Olive Estate in the Breede River Valley in Western Cape, South Africa. For those of us who can’t visit olive oil producers ourselves, she left us with some recommendations for her favorite splurge- worthy and budget-friendly oils, as well as a peek at what’s currently in her kitchen.

Lori Jean Levy’s Favorite Olive Oils

LIÁ olive oil photo credit LIÁ

What are some high-end producers and bottles you love?

I love Piro! It’s super high-end and certainly a luxury oil. I love LIÁ, and I love Cristina Stribacu, who makes LIÁ. And from Turkey, there’s Oro di Milas, it’s a great story and they’re the nicest people (previously profiled in Olive Oil Professor).

And then there’s a very, very small producer in California, Luretik. She is using Italian cultivars and making very robust oils in the Santa Ynez Valley, and she’s only making a couple thousand bottles a year. I’m trying to get my hands on that!

What are some budget-friendly bottles that you recommend?

I have always been a fan of the Costco Kirkland olive oils. The 100% Italian one is excellent. The 100% Spanish one is excellent […] For a budget-conscious shopper, Costco is a great place to buy oil.

When people say, “I’m in a supermarket and these are my options,” my go-to would be ZOE.

What olive oils are you currently using at home?

Rio Largo lemon olive oil photo credit Rio Largo

I always have a bottle of LIÁ open and actually, I just baked with it over the weekend and it came out great.

I can’t get enough of the Rio Largo lemon olive oil. I have the size that I sell to chefs, and I’m going through it kind of often!

Around the holidays and Thanksgiving I went through a liter of Oro di Milas in a week. It’s very adaptable but it still packs a punch—it has a balance of fruit and pepper.