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One of the most frequent questions that our customers ask us when they come to visit us for a guided tour to discover the production of extra virgin olive oil is also the most classic and simple of the questions relating to the world of EVO oil and it is: “But how many olives are needed to produce 1 liter of extra virgin olive oil?”
And just like the questions, our answers relating to the production of olive oil always begin in the same way, that is, by referring to the yield of the olives. In fact, the olive oil yield of the olives that are brought here to the Frantoio is one of the most interesting parameters of the production of extra virgin olive oil, both for the olive farmer and for the visitors. Represented by a percentage value, the yield of the oil during the production phase strictly depends on some main factors, such as variety and level of ripeness of the olives, climatic trends and peculiarities of production of the extra virgin olive oil by the mill and on it all the expectations and hopes of the olive farmers are catalysed.
A good yield during the olive oil production phase can in fact repay a year’s work and the costs incurred, from the olive tree to the final product.
In optimal conditions, at a national level, a good olive oil yield is when a percentage of 25% is obtained, which means that “only” four kg of olives would be needed to produce 1 liter of extra virgin olive oil. In common practice however, and above all taking into account our production area and the varieties of olives we grow in the north-east area of Verona, the common yield during the production of EVO oil is significantly lower. In Veneto the yield of extra virgin oil is around 16%-18%, thus bringing the minimum quantity of olives for the production of 1lt of olive oil to around 5-6kg. However, our region is varied and diversified and in the province of Verona, where our olive oil mill is located, the yield reaches an average of 13% with the conclusion that we need approximately 7.5kg of olives for the production of 1lt of oil extra virgin olive.
The other question that arises spontaneously, immediately after understanding the issue of yield, is that concerning the remaining 87% of our olives, that is: “But if only 13% of the olives are olive oil, the part that remains what is it made of?”:
• 50% from vegetation water: waste water deriving from the production of 1 liter of extra virgin oil.
• 20% from the pulp and skin: the solid wet parts of the olives.
• 17% from the stone: which provides one of the parts of the so-called pomace.
• 13% from extra virgin olive oil
And in this regard we enter into a discussion that is very close to our hearts and in which important resources have been invested: the result obtained is that today Frantoio Bonamini is able to re-process olive by-products and create renewable and reusable materials. Nothing is wasted!
Specifically, the olive pomace, made up of solid parts such as pulp, peel and pieces of stone, is pitted to separate the wet parts from the dry part, so as to obtain: natural fertilizer to be reused on agricultural land or fed to livestock farms such as cattle and sheep and pits which, endowed with an important calorific value thanks to the presence of oil, mixed with the classic pellets, find good use as civil or industrial heating using biomass stoves. The vegetation water, however, which we remember covers 50% of our production olives, according to current legislation, can be disposed of by spreading it on agricultural land.
In conclusion, after having established that we need approximately 7.5kg of olives for the production of 1lt of extra virgin oil, we can therefore state that:
• the process that leads us to the production of a single liter of olive oil is long, difficult and very uncertain, especially noting that an average olive tree can produce around 20/25kg of olives on average.
• the difficulty of producing 1 liter of EVO oil, with all its variables, “justifies” the price at which Italian extra virgin olive oil is sold.
We end this article with this nice video made in collaboration with OlivYou which perfectly summarizes, in a visual and practical way, everything we have shared with you today: how many olives are needed to produce 1 liter of extra virgin olive oil?
