Throughout the twentieth century the process was mechanised and improved and more recent imporovements have shortened the time taken to process olive oil and ensure a high quality product.
Locations of olive Oil Factories
Most towns and villages on the Peloponnese have at least one olive oil factory which may be located within the town or on the outskirts. Methoni has a privately run factory in the town and a co-operative on the outskirts by the junction with the Pylos-Foinikounta road. Some nearby villages also have their own factories.
The Olive oil production process
On arrival at the factory, the gross weight of each batch of sacks is recorded. The olives are then poured from the sacks into a hopper below ground level and the cleaning process begins.
If the olives have been picked carefully by hand, the sack will contain nearly all olives with few leaves and twigs.
Mechanical harvesting is quicker and easier but the use of machinery means that more leaves are gathered with the olives and these must be separated before the olives are crushed. This is done by transporting the olives along a conveyer from which debris can be picked off by hand.
Another, perforated, conveyor is used during the washing process, and the olives fall though the holes while leaves and twigs remain and are pushed aside.
The next stage is carried out in a sealed chamber where the crushing process begins. The oil is released very slowly during a crushing process which can last up to 2 hours, though modern equipment is reducing the processing time.
Conditions are controlled and carefully monitored to ensure a moderate temperature. You will often hear references to cold pressed oil, first pressing and virgin olive oil.
After the initial process, the finely crushed olives are churned between rotating blades in an open trough protected by a wire mesh. At this point the owner can begin to judge the oil quality and quantity of the oil which floats to the top of the trough.
The aroma, colour, flavour and appearance of each batch is different, depending on the species of tree, soil type, growing conditions and harvest time. Generally, fresh green flavours are produced by early harvesting, while mellow, golden oils are produced later.
Each batch of olives is processed separately, ensuring that one batch is finished before the next begins. The owner's name is chalked onto the machine during processing.
As a by-product of processing the crushed olive pits (seeds) and husks are dried and stored outside the factory, to be used as fuel to power the machinery while the oil is piped into a stainless steel container and the net weight recorded.
Testing olive oil quality
The final stage is testing the quality of the oil by performing a titration, using phenolpthalene to oxidise a small sample of the oil. The oxidation level indicates the quality of the oil and determines its price. The owner will usually keep some oil for family use. The rest is sold to the factory and will be mixed with other batches for commercial use.
Until 2005 a "primo" (EU subsidy) was paid to every grower. However, since 2006, many growers have lost their primo following a decision to calculate on a four year period from 2000 to 2004. While the groves at Trigono-Lamda produced 460 litres in their best years, harsh winters and loss due to absence, gave an overall low yield for the period so the primo was lost - the penalty for being offsite during harvest seasons.