Finca Arboleda Olive Harvest

The majority of the olives for “Finca Arboleda Extra Virgin Olive Oil” are grown on site but are supplemented with a few from immediate neighbours. We need 1 tonne of olives to obtain our own single press at the ‘Almazara’ (olive press) co-operative at Los Gallardos. To qualify as Extra Virgin the olives must be cold pressed, around 32ºc, within 72 hours of picking. We only use olives that have been organically fertilised and never sprayed, no fallers are used. We call on friends and guests to help with the picking which each day centres around a good lunch. In 2023 we picked 1120Kg of olives which yielded 200 litres of oil. 2024 was a poor crop we only picked 400kg and got 75 litres of oil.

The olives are tipped into a large container and then taken by conveyor belt to the cleaning processes.The olives are blown free of leaves, washed and then the exciting bit comes when the weight of the crop is displayed. The press at Los Gallardos only deals with this 1st pressing, the remaining pulp and stone are sold on to another press which uses it for lower quality oil or animal feed.

When the oil is then ready for bottling, which we do ourselves, we decant into plastic containers.

The oil from 2024 is without a doubt our best ever! It's available in 1,2 and 5 litre bottles.
We sell it for €10 a litre or €45 for a 5 litre bottle.

Why not come and join us for the next harvest, it's rewarding, great fun and you can take home a few really special xmas presents for family and friends!