From Our Trees to Your Kitchen
The quality of an olive oil can be shaped by an entire growing season—and lost in the short period after harvest. Once olives leave the tree, time and careful handling become critical.
Great oil is the result of hundreds of small decisions made correctly.
“We work tirelessly year round to give ourselves the best chance at an amazing harvest, but the quality of olive oil is ultimately decided within a few hours.”
- Daniele Annese, Mastro Oleario (Master Olive Oil Producer)
Harvest
The olives are collected at the chosen stage of ripeness, when their flavor, aromas, and structure are at their desired point.Careful harvesting helps protect the fruit from bruising and unnecessary stress. Damaged olives deteriorate more quickly, so the way they are removed from the tree and handled on the ground matters.
Transport
After harvest, the olives begin changing immediately. To make high quality extra virgin olive oil the olives should be milled within 24 hours - our olives are milled within 5 or 6 hours. They must reach the mill promptly in clean, well-ventilated containers. If they sit too long - especially in large, warm piles - the fruit can ferment. A delay of only a few hours can separate an exceptional oil from an ordinary one.
Cleaning and Crushing
At the mill, leaves and debris are removed and the olives are washed. The whole fruit is then crushed into a paste, releasing the tiny droplets of oil held within it.
Extra virgin olive oil is never chemically extracted or refined - it is simply extracted mechanically.
Malaxation
The olive paste is mixed slowly and gently in a process called malaxation. This allows the microscopic oil droplets to join together so they can be separated.
Time, temperature, and exposure to oxygen must be carefully controlled. Excessive heat or prolonged mixing may increase yield (common with many mass olive oil producers), but it diminishes freshness, aromas, and beneficial compounds like polyphenols.
Seperation
A centrifuge separates the oil from the fruit’s water and solids.
At this point, fresh oil emerges: vivid, aromatic, and already expressive of its cultivar (type of olive), grove, and harvest.
Filtration
Freshly separated oil may contain microscopic particles of fruit and water. Filtering removes these remnants, helping the oil remain stable and reducing the risk of fermentation or other defects during storage.
Protected Storage
Once produced, olive oil has four principal enemies: Air, Light, Heat, and Time
The oil is stored under carefully controlled conditions to limit oxidation and preserve its freshness. Every transfer and container matters because unnecessary contact with oxygen accelerates aging.
Bottling & Warehousing
Protective packaging helps shield the finished oil from light and air. After bottling, temperature and storage conditions remain essential throughout transportation and warehousing. We ensure that every step of the process from the tree, across the ocean, and finally to our USA warehouses, happens within the right temperature range to protect our oil.
All Masseria Trullo bottles are fully opaque (to protect the oil from light) and made of glass - we never ever store our oil in plastic, which is bad for the oil, bad for the environment, and bad for us as plastic leeches microplastics into the oil.