How olive oil is produced: From harvest to bottling

When the olives are ready to be harvested, they are picked either manually or automatically. For quality olive oils, the harvest is done manually, with a comb, then the harvest is collected on nets. The olives are then brought to the miller who grinds the olives at the mill.

Historically, the first pressing of the olive paste was done cold and the second with hot water to favor the recovery of the remaining oil.

As the olives are harvested in winter, they ferment for a few days before being pressed to heat them naturally. This allowed the aromas to be released more.

The evolution of presses and centrifuges now makes it possible to operate only one pressure and preserves the olive from its number one enemy: oxidation.

Genuine olive oils therefore necessarily come from the first pressing: the olives are stripped of their leaves (leaf stripping), washed, then fully crushed (including the stone). The plant cells of the pulp are burst, allowing the oil droplets to be released. Then comes the mixing during which the aromas develop and the droplets of oil gather.

The olive paste thus obtained passes through a horizontal centrifuge (settling) in which the oil is separated from the solid residues and during which the temperature must remain below 27°C. This is the actual extraction.

Finally, one last Centrifugation liquid in a vertical centrifuge eliminates the residual water droplets, thus obtaining an olive oil ready to be stored or bottled.

And to finish, know that the first olives appear after 7 years and that the olive tree reaches its production maturity after 20/30 years and this up to 150 years (in comparison, the vine begins to produce after 3 years and a fruit tree after 5 years). An olive tree produces an average of 15 to 50 kg of olives per year and to make one liter of olive oil you need 5 to 8 kg of olives.

If you want to know more, do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to do some additional articles on the subject!

See you soon for new blogs,

Myriam & David