Olive Pressing Season 2023
Contract Olive Pressing at The Olive Boutique
The Olive Boutique in Riebeek Kasteel will open for the 2022 contract olive pressing season on Monday, 17th April. For those who don’t know us, we mill olive oil for local growers. No quantity of olives is too small. If we can weigh them, we will press them! We cater for the hobbyist, bringing in 10 kg of olives; the garagista who brings in up to 500 kg and the commercial olive farmer who brings in a ton a day.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to the challenges of load shedding, you 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 so we can include you in our pressing schedule. In order to start the presses for the season, we need a minimum of 150kgs of olives so please don’t just pick without checking that we are ready to receive your olives. During the season, we can process 1 ton of olives per day, so booking is essential!
We assist with the blending of oil from different cultivars of olives, bottling and labelling to achieve an olive oil product that will be successful at market.
Early season indications are that while olives may now be turning black and look as if they are ripening, they are still quite hard and therefore unripe for oil purposes. Remember, the oil must have a chance to form in the flesh of the olive. Make sure that the flesh of the olive is ready to release oil by rolling the olive in your fingers and then squeezing until the olive bursts. Olives ready for the press will readily release an oily (not just watery) liquid. Unripe olives will feel quite hard and hardly release any oil. By our best projections, Olives will be ready for picking in early May.
The charge is –
R6.00 per kg, plus VAT, for quantities below 150kg;
R5.50 per kg, plus VAT, for quantities of 151kg and more but less than 500kg
R4.75 per kg, plus VAT, for quantities of 501kg and more
payable on invoice, subject to acceptance of the conditions set out below.
Bottling charges this year (Consol square oil bottles, flint green);
1lt, R30 per bottle;
500ml, R22 per bottle;
250ml, R20 per bottle
Don’t hesitate to contact us on 022 448-1368 to discuss your plans for the coming olive harvest.
Conditions for Pressing
- Olives must be clean, free of leaves, sticks, branches, stones, metal objects and other debris.
- Olives must be fresh, free of disease and insect infestation. Olives picked more than 24 hours before delivery are not fresh. Picked olives should be kept cool and ventilated but not refrigerated.
- Olives must be delivered in crates or ventilated boxes weighing less than 20kg.
- Pressing services should be booked at least one week in advance to allow pressing to be scheduled efficiently.
- Olive Boutique does its best to keep separate each client’s olives and olive oil. Where olives weigh less than 150kg, it may not be possible to press them as a separate batch. Small batches of olives are pressed with other similar olives and the oil shared on a proportionate basis.
- After pressing, olive oil is racked to allow sediment and water to settle. Once the oil has settled, Olive Boutique will filter the oil and then inform the client that the oil is ready for collection.
- Olive Boutique offers a service in bottling olive oil. Clients who do not wish to have their olive oil bottled by the Boutique must supply suitable containers with oil tight closures. The containers must be clean and dry. Olive Boutique is not responsible for any contamination of olive oil caused by unsuitable containers.
- Olive Boutique does not accept Manzanilla olives for pressing as the yield from these olives is too low to warrant pressing.
- Olive Boutique reserves the right to refuse to press any olives if they do not meet the quality requirements of the Boutique.
Special arrangements can be made with the Olive Boutique to provide for olive oil to be bottled and/or labeled. This must be arranged specifically and a price will be quoted in advance.