Business practices in olive cultivation

The olive trees, all of the Taggiasca variety, are cultivated in terraced fields (the typical 'terraces') that allow the plants, many of which are centuries old, an ideal supply of light and ventilation, also thanks to periodic pruning.

Mechanical cultivation is adopted only locally and superficially in the spring, to aerate the soil and promote nutrient absorption, and then switch to spontaneous winter cover cropping, in order to preserve the organic soil layer and prevent leaching, with weed cutting before harvesting; therefore, chemical herbicides are never used.

The supply of nutrients to the olive tree is mainly provided through the chipping and composting of pruning residues and weeds, with limited use of organic-mineral fertilization only in cases of severe deficiencies of elements.

In most climatic conditions, the olive tree does not require irrigation to ensure sufficient quality and quantity of fruit.

The fruit is harvested during the period between the beginning of ripening (stage in which the olive begins to acquire the typical black color) and the end of January; in this phase, there is a better compromise between the polyphenol content and the acidity, in order to obtain oil with the best organoleptic characteristics.

The objective of achieving the highest possible quality is also pursued through direct harvesting from the tree (completely disregarding fallen fruits), using pneumatic harvesters that, by shaking the canopy, cause the detachment and fall of the fruits (limiting the number of direct impacts on them), and immediately delivering the olives to the mill so that the subsequent milling takes place within close timeframes and within two days at most to minimize oxidation processes.

Our olives are processed exclusively at the Ranzo Social Olive Oil Mill Cooperative, of which the owners of the company who have succeeded each other have always been members since its foundation, where the product is extracted using a semi-continuous process: this allows milling at low temperature obtained with stone mills, which have the advantage of not altering the oil by heating the paste, and separation inside decanters, which limits oxidation.

The oil is then stored in stainless steel containers, periodically removing deposits through decanting, protected from light, under vacuum, and at a temperature between 12 and 20 degrees Celsius in order to preserve the characteristics possessed at the time of its extraction.