Independence and support policy

Zeytin.NET is not affiliated with any producer, brand, cooperative, association or commercial organisation. This page sets out what that independence means in practice, and which forms of support we accept on which terms.

We publish it because independence is not preserved by claiming it, but by writing down its limits.

The basic rule

Whoever pays does not decide what we write.

In practice: when an organisation gives us money or data, what it receives in return is visibility or attribution — not the content of an article, the conclusion of an analysis, or how a figure is interpreted.

What we do

We collect our own data. Price series are compiled from the open registration records of commodity exchanges; exchange rates come from the European Central Bank, European producer prices from the European Commission, world production from the International Olive Council, and the price index from Eurostat. All are open sources and the raw data can be downloaded.

We cite every figure. Inside the article, with its reference.

We say what we cannot measure. We have no retail price series, and we state that in every article where it matters. We do not fill gaps with estimates.

We leave the calculation reproducible. We describe the method and publish the raw data. Anyone reaching a different result can tell us.

What we do not do

• We do not rank products. No "best olive oil" lists.
• We do not sell reviews. No product is assessed favourably or unfavourably in exchange for payment.
• We do not fabricate ratings. Star ratings come only from real reader votes; with no votes, no rating schema is emitted.
• We do not place advertising on analysis pages. Sponsored content does not appear on pages carrying price and market analysis.
• We do not share work in advance. Neither sponsors nor partners see an analysis before publication.

Forms of support we accept

1. Data partnership

This is the form we value most, and it involves no money.

Cooperatives, producer associations, exchanges, universities and research institutions can supply us with data: harvest estimates, stock declarations, operating costs, retail price series, variety trials.

What we do in return is publish the data with its source and credit the institution. The institution supplying data does not determine the conclusion drawn from it — the figures produce their own conclusion.

Everything we currently cannot measure — shelf prices, stocks, production by province — could be opened up this way.

2. Institutional data access

The raw data always remains open and free to everyone. CSV downloads will not be closed off.

What can be offered to institutional users is not the data but ease of access: programmatic access, regular reports, custom extracts, technical support. What is sold is a service, not the data.

This does not affect content, because the same data is already public.

3. Sponsorship

Sponsorship is acceptable under these rules:

• Sponsored content is clearly labelled and its links carry `rel="sponsored"`.
• Sponsored content does not mix with the analysis series; it stands apart.
• No sponsor appears on price and market analysis pages.
• A sponsor sees no unpublished content and has no input into any article.
• The list of sponsors is kept open on this page.

4. Advertising

Advertising served through automated networks is accepted. We do not choose the advertiser and the advertiser does not shape our content — which makes it the most neutral form of revenue from an independence standpoint.

Ads are deliberately not shown on login, registration and certain content pages.

Conflicts of interest

Where an article's subject directly concerns an organisation that supplies us with data or support, that is stated within the article.

We do not withhold a finding critical of an organisation because it supplies us with data. In such a case the choice is to publish the finding, even at the cost of losing the data.

Current position

As of the date this page was written:

• Sponsors: none
• Data partnerships: none
• Advertising: through an automated network
• Commercial affiliations: none

This list is updated as it changes.

Contact

For data partnership, institutional access or sponsorship, write to us through our contact page.

If you have found an error, believe we have got a calculation wrong, or hold data we cannot measure — we would particularly like to hear from you.

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