HOW
OLIVE OIL
IS MADE

Information produced by
A SUPPLIER OF BULK OLIVE OIL
& EDIBLE OIL INGREDIENTS
800.689.7510
8629 S 208th St, Bldg O
Kent, WA 98031
www.centrafoods.com

Olive oil is the
liquid that
comes from
olives.
Put simply,

Olives are a type of fruit,
that are grown on trees.

That makes
olive oil,
technically,
just fruit juice. © Kevin Carlin,
The Noun Project

in mild or temperate
climates.
Olives trees grow in groves,

The majority of these
groves are located
in the Mediterranean.

Especially,
© James Christopher,
The Noun Project
Spain italy
&
© Ted Grajeda,
The Noun Project

But good olive oil is made
all over the world,
in places like
Argentina,
Australia
& the US. © Andrew Forrester
The Noun Project

The harvest happens in the
wintertime.
Whenever that
happens to be
in that hemisphere. © Lil Squid
The Noun Project

Olives grow plump
over the season.
Then they are harvested.

Some olives are
hand picked, while others
are machine harvested.

But the debate is still out
about which harvesting
method produces
better olive oil.
© Paulina Szatanik
The Noun Project

There are many different
types of olive oil
known as
varietals.
© Jane Wiley
The Noun Project

Each olive varietal has
a slightly different taste.

Most olive oils
are made from
a blend of different
olive varietals.

Some olive oils are
produced from just one
type of olive. Those
oils are known as
monovarietals. ❶

Olives are picked from
the groves and
immediately brought
to the manufacturing mill.

At some farms, the mill is
right on site.
© Ana Maria Lora Macias
The Noun Project

Other mills function as a
co-op, with many farmers
bringing their olives
to one shared
mill.
© Nicolas Ramallo
The Noun Project

At the mill,
the olives are washed
in cold water.
.

Then the olives are
crushed into a paste .

In old world traditions,
big stones crushed
the olives.
© Grufus
The Noun Project

Now, crushing is usually
done with Steel blades.
.

In old world traditions,
the paste was loaded on
to mats and squeezed.

In modern times, the oil
is spun in a centrifuge. Image by
© Arturo Yee, Flickr

This is what a centrifuge
looks like inside.
Image © www.oliveoilsource.com/page/equipment-explainedPro

It works like the spin cycle
of a washing machine,
separating the
oil from the
olive solids.
© Megan Sheehan
The Noun Project

The oil that comes out of
this initial production run
is known as the
“first press”.

But technically, it
should be called the
“first spin ”.

If the oil is produced
without using heat, it’s
known as the
“first, cold press”.
Thistermactuallycomesfrom
anantiquatedmethodthatusedhot
watertogetmoreoilfromthepaste
duringsecondarypressingcycles.

Sometimes the oil is
filtered to make it
crystal clear.

And sometimes it’s not,
which is called
unfiltered oil.
©Alberto Galindo
The Noun Project

This initial oil that comes
out is the purest olive oil,
and it is called
Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

It is the highest quality
of olive oil, and is coveted
around the world.

But, to be called
Extra Virgin it has to
meet a few quality
requirements.
© Aaron Dodson
The Noun Project

It has to have an
Acidity level
below 0.8
© Márcio Duarte
The Noun Project

And it has to meet about
20+ other chemical
requirements.
© Rafael Farias Leao
The Noun Project

But that’s not all.
It also has to taste good.

A trained taste tester
makes sure that it is
Extra Virgin Olive Oil &
that the oil doesn’t have
any faults.
Image © Maretta Stiles, Flikr

If he doesn’t think it’s up
to par, or the acidity is
above 0.8, it’s called
Virgin Olive Oil.

The reason some olive
oil turns out to be Virgin
instead of Extra Virgin
often has to do with the
weather and other
natural factors...
© Maurizio Fusillo
The Noun Project

…like how fast the olives
begin to oxidize in the
sun after they are
harvested, or while in
transport.

…It also just has to do with
the olives, the climate,
and how they were grown.
© Parmelyn
The Noun Project

Sometimes, people want
a lighter tasting
olive oil, with a
lighter color.

To get this light
color & taste,
virgin olive oil
is refined.
© Ilsur Aptukov
The Noun Project

This is a High heat
process that
removes a lot of
the oil’s color
and flavor.© Laurant Patain
The Noun Project

What’s left over is a
lighter colored olive oil
that doesn’t really taste
like olives anymore.
© Jane Wiley
The Noun Project

It’s also called
Light-Tasting Olive Oil,
Extra Light Olive Oil
or Light Olive Oil
on your retail
grocery shelves.

NOPE.
Those names don’t
mean they’re low fat.

Light Olive Oil
Light-Tasting Olive Oil
Extra Light Olive Oil“
”
They are all just names
to indicate that they’re
refined olive oil.
. . . .

If you take that
Refined Olive Oil
and mix
some Extra Virgin or Virgin
in, you’ve created a new
grade of olive oil.

This grade is simply
called, olive oil
or sometimes,
pure olive oil.

So, when you see
Pure Olive Oil on your
grocery shelf, it’s saying
that it is a particular
quality grade… Not that it
is original or authentic.

Pure Olive Oil is,
in fact, not the “purest”
or most original
grade of olive oil…
EXTRA VIRGIN IS!

Do you remember those
olive solids that
remained after the
extra virgin olive oil
was extracted?
© Alex Fuller
The Noun Project

Those bits of olive flesh,
fruit and pit are called the
pomace of the olive.

That pomace still has a
little bit of olive oil in it
that can’t be SQUEEZED out.
But it’s in there!
© Andrew Schatz
The Noun Project

Kind of like a how a
wet sponge
still has water in it, no
matter how
hard you
wring it out.
© Alex Fuller
The Noun Project

There’s a way to get this
oil out, and it would
otherwise go unused.
Key © Bucky Clarke
The Noun Project

A solvent is added
to the pomace
(usually hexane).
© Kristen Lehua
The Noun Project

This extracts the last
possible oil from the olive.
Then the solvent
is removed.Icon © Louis Prado
The Noun Project

This is the same process
that’s used to produce
conventional soybean oil,
canola oil and many other
seeds oils in the US.
© Rául Santos
The Noun Project

This last remaining
grade is called
Olive Pomace Oil,
and it is the lowest
grade of olive oil.
Icon © Kristen Lehua
The Noun Project

Tree © Parmelyn
Olive © Jane Wiley
The Noun Project
But it’s still
made 100% from
the olive itself.

It’s important to choose
the right oil olive grade,
depending on
what you’re using it for.

Extra Virgin is delicious
on everything.
But it is a more expensive oil.

It also has a lower
smoke point.
© Jory Raphael
The Noun Project
(which means it
doesn’t love
high heat cooking).

Pure olive oil is perfect
for baking and cooking,
because it doesn’t have a
strong flavor.

It also has a
higher Heat Tolerance,
because it’s refined
through high heat.

Olive Pomace Oil is used in
Soap Making, Restaurants
Manufacturing
& Other Industrial Purposes.

Sometimes, one of these
types of olive oil will be
blended with another
type of seed oil.
© Tommy Lau
The Noun Project

These are known as
Olive Oil Blends.

You can choose any kind
of ratio of blend you like.
© Roman Kovbasyuk
The Noun Project
Made With any kind of seed oil,
And any kind of olive oil.

The most common ratios
are blends like…
75% Canola Oil & 25% Extra Virgin Olive Oil
90% Soybean Oil & 10% Olive Oil
95% Non-GMO Canola Oil & 5% EVOO

. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The bottom line is…

Anything with
olive oil
is
delicious.

So eat up!

Want to learn more
about olive oil ?

Visit
www.centrafoods.com

And subscribe to the
Bulk Oil Blog

Information produced by.
Written by Hannah Broaddus
A supplier of
bulk oils
to the
manufacturing & distribution
industries