Step 1 - Seeding
Every olive starts its journey as a little seed, found inside the pit of the olive that came before it, and within that pit sits what you could call the real seed; the part that grows into a tree later on if given the chance. That being said, commercial growers don’t usually plant olives from seeds, mostly because it’s quite the slow process.
Still, this illustrates how the olive is both a fruit and a pocket of potential life. That small seed holds the genetic recipe for the next generation, linking long centuries of cultivation back to today. This is why many commercial olive oil groves are centuries old, curated from years of effort and care, creating legacies of growth and goodness. Some other growers, however, grow new trees through cuttings or grafting. These approaches help keep the fruit quality steadier and more predictable.
Step 2 - Growing
Olive trees flourish the most in warm regions that feel (or are) Mediterranean–long hot summers and winters that don’t get very harsh. Once supplied with full sunlight for optimal fruit yield, well‑drained soil, since the roots don’t like sitting in water, and sufficient but comparatively little water compared to other fruit-bearing trees, you’ll see the magic start.
An olive tree that’s just starting can take around 3–5 years before it gives a first harvest that’s worth picking. After the early stage, the fruit output tends to climb. One healthy tree may keep producing olives for many years, even centuries.
Step 3 - Harvesting
Once the labor has paid off, harvesting is next in line on this journey for oil. Harvesting olives is a careful tradeoff between timing and method. As olives ripen, their colors shift, going from green hues to purple, and then, eventually, toward black. Growers decide the exact moment to harvest based on the kind of flavor they want, and also on oil characteristics. That kind of timing and knowledge is everything. At Olive Oil Flights, our farmers pick when the olives are still green, turning darker - typically in late October. This is when there is a very high polyphenolic count, but the yield is less. This timing emphasizes a full and nutrient-rich flavor.
You’ll often see a few different common approaches used, such as…
- Hand‑picking, which helps to protect both the olives and the tree itself from any machinery or scraping
-
Net‑catching, where the olives are allowed to naturally drop into nets set under the branches as they grow
-
Mechanical shakers, mostly used where orchards are big and speed matters, albeit at the risk of some minor blemishing
The aim is to collect the fruit fairly quickly, but with gentleness, so their quality stays intact up until processing time.
Step 4 - Processing
After their collection, olives need attention quickly, usually within 4 hours maximum, so the fruit doesn’t spoil, dry up off the vine, or begin to ferment prematurely. The first step in this speedy process is cleaning, where leaves, twigs, and debris is taken out. Then, the olives are washed and crushed —traditionally with stone mills, though some modern processing places tend to use stainless steel rollers.
Step 5 - Malaxation (a grinding technique)
Crushing the olives makes a thick paste full of the fruit’s flesh, pit, and tiny oil droplets. That paste gets mixed slowly. This phase of the olive’s journey is known as malaxation, a strategy that involves crushing the olives and incorporating all of their parts, which is designed to get greater yields and help with flavor development. The idea of this strategy is to let the droplets join together into bigger ones and sort themselves away from the rest of the mixture’s pulp while the other parts of the pulp naturally separate from the oil. That way, extraction is easier, and you get more oil for your olive!
Step 6 - Pressing
After the grind process, the olive paste is ready for its close-up: extraction. There are two common approaches:
- Traditional pressing, where the paste is laid out on mats and squeezed over time, allowing the oil to filter through (pictured above)
-
Modern centrifugation, where the paste is spun vigorously so the oil separates from the paste’s water and solids
Step 7 - Quality Control
Once it’s extracted, olive oil is tested and sorted by a multitude of features. If the raw, post-extraction oil satisfies tight chemical and sensory rules of the label, the outcome is extra virgin olive oil. If it doesn’t, or if there’s more handling involved, the lower grades can show up. Sorting the oil product through grades helps make sure each batch matches the intended purpose, whether it’s meant to be a gourmet finishing oil or everyday cooking oil.
Step 8 - Packaging and Shipping
After the grading and sorting line, the oils are filtered, bottled, and sealed in dark containers so that light and oxygen can’t mess with them. Fun fact: this is why olive oil is usually seen in dark green bottles. Then, those containers are put into crates and moved through distribution networks. But it’s not so simple; temperature control is critical, as too much heat can degrade flavor and nutritional value.
From the groves to the grocery shelf, each bottle contains a long story of cultivation, craftsmanship, and quality control. By the time it is in stores, the oil is ready for consumers to enjoy—whether it’s drizzled over salads, used in cooking, or just savored as part of your favorite Mediterranean-inspired meal.
Recipe of the Week: Slow-Cooked Vegetarian Stew
Time for a snack break! On the subject of an olive-oil-inspired dish, here’s our recipe of the week. This one was shared with me by one of you all, a customer from Virginia! He has this every day with our Lemon Meyer Nocellara. This stew is made how you like it, meaning you add as much of each ingredient as your heart desires to curate the flavors you like. Here’s what I’d recommend you start with to serve 2 people:
Ingredients for Slow-Cooked Vegetarian Stew:
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 2 medium carrots, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can (14–15 oz) diced tomatoes with green peppers
- 1 quart Imagine Vegetable Broth (you’ll use about 3 cups for a stew‑like consistency)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp our Meyer Lemon Nocellara olive oil for a citrusy/bright taste, or a Greek Koroneiki for a more herbal grassy edge.
Instructions:
- Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Then, stir in carrots and zucchini. Let that cook for 3- 5 minutes to allow the flavor to develop.
- Sprinkle the cumin, turmeric, salt, and black pepper while stirring the vegetables to ensure an even coat.
- Pour in the broth, green peppers, and diced tomatoes.
- Bring everything to a gentle simmer (medium-low heat) and cook 20–25 minutes, until carrots are tender (just enough to hold an indent but NOT soft enough to crumble or split) and the broth has deepened in color and flavor.
- Try it, and add more salt, broth, or flavor as necessary!
Cheers to good health and great olive oil.
This article has been edited by Grace Lyles.
The Olive’s Journey From Seedhood to Store-dom
Step 1 - Seeding
Every olive starts its journey as a little seed, found inside the pit of the olive that came before it, and within that pit sits what you could call the real seed; the part that grows into a tree later on if given the chance. That being said, commercial growers don’t usually plant olives from seeds, mostly because it’s quite the slow process.
Still, this illustrates how the olive is both a fruit and a pocket of potential life. That small seed holds the genetic recipe for the next generation, linking long centuries of cultivation back to today. This is why many commercial olive oil groves are centuries old, curated from years of effort and care, creating legacies of growth and goodness. Some other growers, however, grow new trees through cuttings or grafting. These approaches help keep the fruit quality steadier and more predictable.
Step 2 - Growing
Olive trees flourish the most in warm regions that feel (or are) Mediterranean–long hot summers and winters that don’t get very harsh. Once supplied with full sunlight for optimal fruit yield, well‑drained soil, since the roots don’t like sitting in water, and sufficient but comparatively little water compared to other fruit-bearing trees, you’ll see the magic start.
An olive tree that’s just starting can take around 3–5 years before it gives a first harvest that’s worth picking. After the early stage, the fruit output tends to climb. One healthy tree may keep producing olives for many years, even centuries.
Step 3 - Harvesting
Once the labor has paid off, harvesting is next in line on this journey for oil. Harvesting olives is a careful tradeoff between timing and method. As olives ripen, their colors shift, going from green hues to purple, and then, eventually, toward black. Growers decide the exact moment to harvest based on the kind of flavor they want, and also on oil characteristics. That kind of timing and knowledge is everything. At Olive Oil Flights, our farmers pick when the olives are still green, turning darker - typically in late October. This is when there is a very high polyphenolic count, but the yield is less. This timing emphasizes a full and nutrient-rich flavor.
You’ll often see a few different common approaches used, such as…
The aim is to collect the fruit fairly quickly, but with gentleness, so their quality stays intact up until processing time.
Step 4 - Processing
After their collection, olives need attention quickly, usually within 4 hours maximum, so the fruit doesn’t spoil, dry up off the vine, or begin to ferment prematurely. The first step in this speedy process is cleaning, where leaves, twigs, and debris is taken out. Then, the olives are washed and crushed —traditionally with stone mills, though some modern processing places tend to use stainless steel rollers.
Step 5 - Malaxation (a grinding technique)
Crushing the olives makes a thick paste full of the fruit’s flesh, pit, and tiny oil droplets. That paste gets mixed slowly. This phase of the olive’s journey is known as malaxation, a strategy that involves crushing the olives and incorporating all of their parts, which is designed to get greater yields and help with flavor development. The idea of this strategy is to let the droplets join together into bigger ones and sort themselves away from the rest of the mixture’s pulp while the other parts of the pulp naturally separate from the oil. That way, extraction is easier, and you get more oil for your olive!
Step 6 - Pressing
After the grind process, the olive paste is ready for its close-up: extraction. There are two common approaches:
Step 7 - Quality Control
Once it’s extracted, olive oil is tested and sorted by a multitude of features. If the raw, post-extraction oil satisfies tight chemical and sensory rules of the label, the outcome is extra virgin olive oil. If it doesn’t, or if there’s more handling involved, the lower grades can show up. Sorting the oil product through grades helps make sure each batch matches the intended purpose, whether it’s meant to be a gourmet finishing oil or everyday cooking oil.
Step 8 - Packaging and Shipping
After the grading and sorting line, the oils are filtered, bottled, and sealed in dark containers so that light and oxygen can’t mess with them. Fun fact: this is why olive oil is usually seen in dark green bottles. Then, those containers are put into crates and moved through distribution networks. But it’s not so simple; temperature control is critical, as too much heat can degrade flavor and nutritional value.
From the groves to the grocery shelf, each bottle contains a long story of cultivation, craftsmanship, and quality control. By the time it is in stores, the oil is ready for consumers to enjoy—whether it’s drizzled over salads, used in cooking, or just savored as part of your favorite Mediterranean-inspired meal.
Recipe of the Week: Slow-Cooked Vegetarian Stew
Time for a snack break! On the subject of an olive-oil-inspired dish, here’s our recipe of the week. This one was shared with me by one of you all, a customer from Virginia! He has this every day with our Lemon Meyer Nocellara. This stew is made how you like it, meaning you add as much of each ingredient as your heart desires to curate the flavors you like. Here’s what I’d recommend you start with to serve 2 people:
Ingredients for Slow-Cooked Vegetarian Stew:
Instructions:
Cheers to good health and great olive oil.
This article has been edited by Grace Lyles.