Hand-Harvesting Our Olives
The exact harvest date in the Western Cape normally stretches from March to July or even late August. At Willow Creek Olive Products, we use manual labour to harvest our olives.
To determine the optimal harvesting time for olives intended for oil production, the following criteria should be adhered to:
- The olives must have the maximum weight of oil.
- The quality of the oil must be optimal.
- Fruit and tree damage must be minimal.
- The crop for next year must remain unaffected.
- Harvesting costs must be kept as low as possible.
We firmly believe in producing all our olive oils locally to meet the above criteria. Our exceptional products are not only a testament to the incredible farming conditions and terrain that South African farmers are lucky enough to benefit from, but they also allow us to compete with other countries on the international olive oil market.
By harvesting our olives right where we produce and store our products, we don’t have to store or transport our olives for extended periods of time. This ensures that all of our products are bottled right at the source, which means you get the freshest possible olive oil.
Harvesting requires a delicate touch
Numerous factors, such as the cultivar and the size of the tree, influence the rate of olive picking. On average, an adult can harvest 60kg of table olives per day. Harvesting table olives requires delicate handling because processors won’t accept damaged produce.
Each adult can harvest over 100kg of olives for the production of extra virgin olive oil each day. We process all our olives within 24 hours to produce high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
After harvesting, we remove all twigs and debris and thoroughly wash the olives. Next, we crush the olives into a paste and proceed to malax the paste.
Afterwards, centrifugal force separates the oil from the olive paste in a decanter, leaving it in tanks for further separation, a process known as “racking.” Finally, a temperature-controlled room stores the oil in large stainless steel tanks, each cultivar having its own tank.
At Willow Creek Olive Products, our master oil blender takes the olive oils and mixes or infuses them with complementary flavours in order to produce our award-winning olive oil line.
