Spain is the largest olive oil producer in the world. Nearly 60% of the total world’s olive oil is produced in Spain. La Española has been producing and packing olive oil in the Andalusian region in the south of Spain since 1840. In recent years, the average annual olive oil production in Spain has been over 1.75 million tonnes.
We would like to share with you the journey of your olive oil from the sun drenched olive groves in Spain to your local table.
We work together with the local Spanish farms and co-operatives to help farmers with crop management throughout the olive growing season.
The main varieties of olives grown in Spain are picual, arbequina and hojiblanca.
We work together with the local Spanish farms and co-operatives to help farmers with crop management throughout the olive growing season.
The main varieties of olives grown in Spain are picual, arbequina and hojiblanca.
The olives can either be picked by hand or collected by machinery. A machine vibrates the entire olive tree so that the olives fall effortlessly and are caught by nets to ensure they never touch the ground. This process doesn’t damage the olive tree which continues to grow and thrive year after year.
Olives are harvested at the beginning of ‘veraison’ which is the period when the olives are at their best. This produces the highest quality extra virgin olive oil, preserving all its healthy attributes and highest quantity of natural antioxidants and polyphenols.
This whole process is commonly called ‘cold extraction’ as no heat, solvents or chemicals are used to extract the extra virgin olive oil.
Extra virgin olive oil always comes from this first cold pressing of the olives and has less than 0.89% acidity. This is the finest quality oil and it must meet very strict guidelines in order to be classified as extra virgin olive oil.
They are then packed into fully recyclable cardboard boxes and stacked onto pallets ready for transportation to the UK. The bottles move along the production line where they are filled, sealed, capped and labelled.
After a short journey, the oil arrives in a tanker bound at a packaging plant, where bottles are cleaned and prepared to be filled with olive oil.
