The Popular 1970s Deli Meat That Is A Challenge To Find In Stores Today

Grocery stores did not always have a case of cold cuts waiting for you beneath a well-marked sign. There was a time when you had to go to the butcher for meat and the produce section for veggies instead of grabbing a premade meal with the other must-have deli items from Costco. While there have been grocery store delis in America since the 1800s, the supermarket deli section as we know it was born in the '60s and '70s, built organically as other departments sent over the foods that did not quite belong. Olive loaf was one of the first deli meats to grace the case when supermarket delis first arrived — and though delis have flourished since then, the olive loaf isn't nearly as popular as it once was.

Olive loaf is kind of like bologna or mortadella, made with a mixture of ground meats and olives pressed together in one loaf. The meat product is usually made from ground beef, chicken, or pork and contains green olives stuffed with pimentos — either whole or sliced in chunks — throughout the loaf. It is served in ultra-thin slices, so you will see cross-sections of olives and pimentos in each piece. It was a lunchtime staple in the '70s, serving as the centerpiece of an olive loaf sandwich, one of the best old-school sandwiches everyone loved, but you rarely see today.

Olive loaf has a very unique flavor that does not require a ton of other ingredients to make an interesting meal. It hits the spot when it is stacked on a sandwich with tomato, lettuce, and little mustard. Pork and beef combine to create a savory, balanced meat foundation for briny olives, creating a salty, earthy, and interesting flavor all by itself. Olive loaf is also interesting to look at, with all of its green flecked spots, making it an easy crowd-pleaser for parties.

Oscar Mayer had an olive loaf deli meat that was very popular up until the 1970s when it was discontinued. Other companies carried on the legacy, but the move signaled the decline of olive loaf's popularity. Health concerns about saturated fats in the 1990s further pushed the deli meat variety into obscurity, and mainstream culture's tastes just shifted. Instead of olive sandwiches for lunch, kids dove into chicken nuggets and Sloppy Joes, the '90s lunchtime classic that turned into a modern-day homemade hero. The olive loaf isn't gone forever, though. You can still find it, and Oscar Mayer even has a pre-sliced version for sale at select stores in small packages in the deli meat section.