Production Requirements

To ensure the highest level of quality olive oil is achieved, the highest quality fruit must be grown and the highest quality production processes utilized throughout the milling facility from beginning to end. These production requirements are based on prior results and therefore represent a set of best practices and guidelines for the farmer. The proof of these processes should be, but is not always, evident in the sensory and chemical analyses of the resulting olive oil.

3.1 General
3.1.1 Oil must contain 100% of content from olives    
3.1.2 Must be estate produced or have complete traceability of each cultivar    
3.1.3 Must list all variety or varieties of olives    
3.1.4 Must display “Harvest” or “Crush” date    
3.1.5 Cannot be more than 14 months old from Harvest/Crush date    
3.2 Farming
3.2.1 Sustainable farming practices must be employed    
3.3 Harvesting
3.3.1 Harvest at the optimum moment for quality not yield (can vary with cultivar, conditions, location, and fruit maturity index)    
3.4 Milling
3.4.1 Mechanical extraction using malaxer, centrifugation and decanter