The first extra virgin olive oil for babies

Oliver Petit Gourmet: extra virgin olive oil for babies

Oliver Petit Gourmet is an extra virgin olive oil that has been specially formulated and developed for its consumption during childhood. Pediatricians and opinion leaders from the health field recommend its consumption since the baby starts having purées with salty foods (at around 6 months old), within a diversified diet that is also adapted to the child’s age.

Oliver is a gourmet-quality oil with a soft texture and a sweet, fruity flavor, with a fragrant aroma of apple and fresh fruits. Its content in oleic acid must be highlighted: it represents 79% of the oil’s composition, a very high (and beneficial) value for such a soft oil as Oliver, with a taste and an aroma that are perfectly adapted to the smallest ones’ palates.

Tasting profile: Golden yellow, clean and bright appearance. Intense fruity aroma of ripe olives, with notes of apple and almond. Oily and fluid body in the mouth, with a soft, sweet aftertaste.

The product’s positioning is innovative: MONVA was a pioneer in the development of this line of olive oils, thinking of taking the extra virgin olive oil’s extraordinary properties to the little ones of the house.

Our main target audience are those parents who make their babies’ food, although our Oliver is also recommendable to provide a healthy, natural extra touch to ready-made baby food.

Oliver is suitable for all kinds of cuisines, and it makes a wonderful ingredient in ready-made dishes and baby food, thanks to its excellent nutritional properties. Scientific studies from all over the world prove that extra virgin olive oil reduces the risk of arteriosclerosis in children thanks to its high content in oleic acid, beta-carotene and provitamin A, as well as other antioxidants and phytosterols. In fact, international organizations such as the WHO (World Health Organization) or the FAO (UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization) recommend the consumption of olive oil since a very early age.

A hygienic, practical, and innovative packaging

The 250 ml packaging has a dispenser pump with two positions: use and lock. It works by creating a void, with no added gas that may jeopardize the oil’s aroma and flavor. Every tap given to the dispenser pump will release 2 ml of extra virgin olive oil. This allows controlling and rationing the amount of oil that we give our little ones in a comfortable, hygienic way. The packaging includes two locks that guarantee the product’s excellent entirety and quality.

A production process guided by quality

Monva is a family company founded in 1972, following a tradition of olive-growing families that dates back to the 18^th century. Monva grows its own olive tree plantation, located at the agricultural estate of 650 hectares where the entire production and bottling process of extra virgin olive oil takes place: the Cortijo Virgen de los Milagros, assigned to the Sierra Mágina Designation of Origin.

Monva has many certifications that endorse the quality of our Oliver Petit Gourmet extra virgin olive oil for children and babies:

• ISO 9001:2015 Norm on quality management
• ISO 14001:2015 Norm on environment protection
• IFS Norm: International Food Standard
• Sierra Mágina Designation of Origin
• Certified Quality: Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian regional government)

Food safety is the basic premise for all of our production processes: the cultivation of olive trees, the olive picking and the oil’s production and final bottling are certified under ISO 9001 (Quality Control) and ISO 14001 (Environment Protection) norms, and the Regulatory Council of the Sierra Mágina Designation of Origin controls them. Additionally, every bottled lot has a certificate of chemical products.

Oliver Petit Gourmet, our special oil for children and babies is produced and bottled at the Cortijo Virgen de los Milagros - as is the rest of Monva’s olive oil range – using our own estate-grown olives, which are collected at their optimal ripening stage and are compressed in less than four hours from the moment they are picked.

Cold extraction is carried out under the most demanding quality standards, at a temperature lower than 20 degrees. After pouring naturally in the cellar, in stainless-steel tanks under controlled temperature, the oil is bottled in the same facility.

Extra virgin olive oil and child health

The extra virgin olive oil is very beneficial for our organism in every phase of our lives, but there is a cycle in which it must be present: the early childhood.

The scientifically proven benefits that the consumption of extra virgin olive oil has for the human body during early childhood are countless, namely due to the high content in Vitamin E, which the baby needs to support its bone growth, a correct brain development, and the formation of its nervous system.

It has been proven that extra virgin olive oil is the natural fact that shares the greatest similarities with breast milk, in both its composition and its digestion. No other vegetable oil has such similarities in its composition, let alone animal fats.

The Spanish Pediatrics Association recommends the consumption of extra virgin olive oil instead of the rest of fats in its report “Hypercholesterolemia during childhood”. Extra virgin olive oil is prescribed by many other related organizations, such as the Spanish Society of Cardiology.

The World Health Organization also prescribes its consumption during childhood, due to its basic role within the so-called “Mediterranean Diet”.

Further to the digestive system, extra virgin olive oil:

• Is the one the stomach tolerates the best.
• It favors the digestion of food and the absorption of nutrients.
• It reduces gastric acidity and prevents peptic ulcers.
• Due to the presence of triolein, it makes a sufficient stimulus for pancreatic secretion.

Further to the bowel:

• Extra virgin olive oil presents an excellent absorption ability; therefore, it is advisable in cases where absorption problems may arise (breastfed, intestinal syndromes, etc.).
• It favors the function of the large bowel, thereby reducing constipation.

Further to the cardiovascular system:

• Olive oil is highly rich in monounsaturated acids (oleic acid, also called Omega 9), as well as in linoleic and linolenic acids, in smaller proportions. The latter reduce the LDL cholesterol levels (“bad” cholesterol) and increase those of HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol), as opposed to other oils made out of seeds – such as corn or sunflower -, which reduce the levels of HDL cholesterol. That is why olive oil should be recommended as a preferential fat in relation to others, not only as a pre-emptive measure, but also as a healing method in diseases such as arteriosclerosis.
• It reduces blood pressure, platelet aggregation, and blood clotting, thus diminishing the risk of suffering from heart conditions and brain thrombosis.

Further to bone development and growth:

• In comparison to other fats, the consumption of EVOO stimulates growth and favors calcium absorption and mineralization, resulting in a better development of the skeleton.
• It provides the body with essential fatty acids such as Omega 3 and Omega 6 in appropriate proportions; the development of the nervous system depends on these fatty acids.
• Breast milk secreted by mothers that consume olive oil as their main source of fat contains optimal amounts of essential fatty acids, which contributes to a harmonious development of the breastfed baby’s nervous system.
• It helps to prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as the Alzheimer.
• It contains Vitamin E and polyphenols, elements with high antioxidant power, which is why it contributes to delaying cellular ageing.

Further to other pathologies:

• The consumption of EVOO in nutritional therapy for child diabetes prevents the massive absorption of glucose during the postprandial period; therefore, there are no verified abrupt increases of its level.
• Skin: it contains vitamins E (tocopherol) and A (retinol), which exert radio-protective and invigorating effects on the epidermis.
• Anticancer: namely tackling breast cancer, although it also protects against other types.
• Vitamin contribution: rich in Vitamin A (it favors the organism’s defenses), D (anti-rickety), E (antioxidant and anti-infertility), F (it prevents the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids and stimulates growth) and K (anti-hemorrhage).