An Olive’s Captivating Journey: from the Tree to the Bottle
You love the distinctive taste of our olive oils. But have you ever wondered why they bring that wow effect to your recipes?
Once revered as liquid gold by our ancestors, olive oil has become a staple in modern cuisine. Its distinctive flavour and many health benefits prompted it to the pinnacle of gastronomy, with consumption surging by 91% between 1990 and 2019. It has truly become a dietary staple for every foodie.
Discover its fascinating journey, which begins under the warm sun…
Country of Origin: Greece
Our succulent olives grow in the warm Greek sun, in a small village south of Peloponnese, a region that has been renowned for thousands of years for producing exceptional olive oil.
The region has all the best conditions: not too much rain, well-drained fertile soil, mountainous terrain, and above all, an attentive grower.
Our family has owned this land for over a hundred years, and our ancestral knowledge has been passed on from one generation to the next.
Growing in wild groves as in the former plantations, our olives are harvested using long electric rakes (olive harvesters) and collected in a net at the bottom of the olive tree. You will find no heavy equipment here: everything is done gently to preserve the best possible olive quality.
Cold-Pressed for Exceptional Oils
The harvest period varies per region and types of olives. In mid-October, small black olives called Mavrolia are harvested and the green Koroneiki olives are harvested in mid-November.
One of the secrets to preserving our olives’ intense flavour and health benefits is to press them quickly after harvesting. In our fields, olives are pressed only 4 to 6 hours after harvest to preserve maximum freshness.
Once pressed, the oil is stored in stainless steel tanks where it decants naturally. It is then sent to our warehouse in St-Ligori to be bottled.
Our Crude olive oil is the only one to be sent straight from being pressed to be bottled as quickly as possible, to let you enjoy its freshness as if you were part of the process.
How is olive oil made?
After harvesting, the olives are sorted, crushed and pressed. The faster the olives are pressed, the fresher and better preserved the oil. Decanting then separates the oil from its suspended particles, preserving only the best of the olives: pure oil with an exquisite taste and health benefits.
From Greece to Quebec
Leaving our family land with fresh oil cargo, we cross an ocean to share this culinary treasure with Quebec families. Each bottle carries the very essence of Greek soil with its sunny and slightly spicy taste.
Next time you enjoy our olive oils, let yourself get carried away by their exquisite taste, a gift from Greece to your taste buds. To add to their health benefits, our olive oils will bring dazzle to your recipes!
LA BELLE EXCUSE is 6,500 olive trees, 600 stores, 80 tons of olive oil a year, 15 pairs of hands making the product, an entire family pouring their heart and soul into it and, above all, thousands of customers making it a success.
So, thank you all for contributing to our success. You are the reason we can pursue our passion day after day. Ευχαριστώ!
