Harvesting
The olive oil production process begins in the field with the harvesting of the fruit.
In November, with the first cold weather of autumn, the olives reach maturity and take on the coloration that indicates that it is the optimal moment for harvesting.
The farmer-members go out to the fields to harvest the olives as they have been doing for decades, in an almost artisanal way, with shawls and bundles, due to the orography of the terrain of the Sierra de Cazorla region.
Times have evolved and so have harvesting techniques and tools. Manual or knapsack shakers allow to optimize the harvesting work, while respecting our olive trees and the environment.
Once the fruit is harvested, it is prepared and classified to be transported in the best hygienic conditions to the oil mill for further processing.
Delivery
Once the olives have been harvested in the fields, an “army” of tractors and all-terrain vehicles belonging to the hundreds of members of the cooperative make their way to the cooperative’s reception courtyard
.
The delivery of olives is an automated and mechanized process carried out by the operators of the mill, which includes the unloading of the olives in the reception hoppers, already duly classified by variety (Picual and Royal) and quality (flight or ground); the cleaning of the fruit; its weighing and transport to the stainless steel storage hoppers, for its subsequent milling.
The entire olive delivery process is subject to exhaustive quality control by our cooperative’s operators.
Milling
Once the storage hopper is selected according to the quality of the fruit, the olive milling process begins in fully mechanized and automated mills.
With the milling process we obtain a homogeneous mass composed of olive oil and alpeorujo (alpechin and pomace).
In order to obtain the highest quality oil, the maximum storage time in the hoppers cannot exceed 12 hours, since after this time the qualities of the extracted oil are reduced.
The dough mixing
With the fruit already milled, we obtain a paste that must be homogenized. This is done with a blender, whose objective is to beat the paste to facilitate the separation of the olive oil from the other by-products, alpechín and pomace.
For the oil to be considered as Cold Extraction, the temperature of the blender must be below 27ºC, thus guaranteeing the maximum quality of the Olive Oil, thus obtaining an EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).
Olive oil extraction
The most awaited moment of the whole olive oil production process has arrived: extraction.
In the decanter or horizontal centrifuge is where the extraction of EVOO takes place, through the separation of masses by density difference. Olvia oil is extracted from the alpeorujo (alpechin and pomace), the latter being a by-product for the pomace industry.
Storage
The Bodega is the sacred temple where the virgin juices
obtained must rest.
The Extra Virgin Olive Oil “Aceites Cazorla” is stored in stainless steel tanks
in order not to break the quality chain of the whole process of olive oil production.
Whole oils, green oils and unfiltered oils are stored in the cellar. It should be noted that in order to maintain the quality standard, our cellar is located in an insulated room with a controlled temperature of about 20 ºC .
Packaging
The bottling plant is one of the most important departments of our
Cooperative, since it is the culmination of a process that began in the field and ends with our product already bottled and labeled, ready to be marketed.
We have the latest and sophisticated technology, our bottling line allows us to bottle more than 1,500 liters of oil per hour to supply the growing demand for our EVOO nationally and internationally.
The sale
Our marketing department is in charge of selling and delivering our products to our customers nationally and internationally.
But the commercialization process does not end with the sale, since we carry out a follow-up and customer loyalty work, through our marketing and communication department.
