Hand-picked VS Machine Harvest
Hand-picked is a term that describes the process that takes place when olives are harvested from the tree. Most olive groves incorporate heavy machinery to remove olives from the tree, referred to as machine harvest. Stamatopoulos & Sons extra virgin olive oil is made from olives that have been plucked by hand, never a machine. We use the best practices and most traditional ways of processing olive oil, which begins with hand-picking. While it is labor-intensive, we believe it to be the most authentic way to begin the process. Olives that are hand-picked are each closely inspected to ensure there are no imperfections. Olives that are harvested by machine are usually imperfect and might contain pits, be bruised, sliced, rotten, punctured, and more.
Greeks have a special relationship with their olive trees. Each tree needs tended to individually because no two are alike. Machines are incapable of giving the care that olive tree needs to produce quality fruit.
- oliver oil
