








Gold Prize
BIOCORDOBA - ECOTRAMA 2010
(Andalucía)
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1.- ORGANIC CULTIVATION.
We till the olive using organic farming methods, which don't allow the use of chemical fertilisers, weed-killers or any other product that generates toxic residues which act against the environment.
2.- MANUAL HARVESTING.
We harvest manually, rejecting any olives which are found on the floor.
3.- WASHING/STRIPPING.
We clean the olive, stripping off the leaves and the small branches.
4.- CRUSHING.
The purpose of the grinding is to break the olive tissues and release drops of oil. We grind the olives as they are collected. The process takes place slowly to prevent any heating.
5.- MIXING.
Mixing is one of the most important processes. It brings together in one continual phase the drops of oil dispersed in the crushed paste. We control the temperature and we do not add water. As a result the paste is more difficult to work with and less oil is obtained, though there are no negative alterations in quality or aroma loss.
6.- DECANTER.
After the mixer the paste is sent to the decanter in order to be separated into it's two phases. One of the phases is composed of solids or vegetation water (orujo), and the other phase is oil. We would like to point out that to obtain only the best oil we do not force the separation, and so some oil is lost in the orujo. With the two phase system we eliminate any dumping of the final olive remains (alpechin) which causes much pollution and seriously harms the environment.
The crushing, mixing and separation is carried out in cold conditions to guarantee the preservation of the vitamin and aroma properties.
7.- TANKS.
The oil is put into sealed stainless steel tanks and kept at a constant temperature. The oil decants its moisture, sediments and other impurities which settle at the bottom of the tanks and are regularly removed.
8.- NO FILTERING.
After the oil has decantedin a natural way we package it without filtering to avoid any-loss of vitamins or antioxidants.
9.- BOTTLING AND PACKAGING.
We have chosen glass bottles, for glass is an excellent material for oil preservation. It is transparent so that we can admire the splendid green colour of the oil. We have cased it in order to prevent any loss in quality caused by light or heat.
The bottling occurs when the order is placed so that the least time possible passes between bottling and consumption.
All the machines that intervene in the process are made of stainless steel. Stainless steel receives a high category status in the food industry as it has a high mechanical and corrosive resistance, meaning a total absence of particle release.
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