How it is made
For Fabbri an excellent Extra Virgin Olive Oil is not
not only the result of squeezing a fruit, but of
overall view of the process .
The six stages of the process
Collection
There are many collection methods, the most used are:
- Beating: the branches are beaten by long poles.
- Hand picking: the fruits are detached from the plant using "combs".
- Mechanical picking: the fruits are detached from the plant using "mechanical combs" fixed on long rods.
- Mechanical harvesting: shaking machines are used that allow the fruit to be separated by moving the trunk and branches of the plant.
In any case, the olives are then collected in sheets and transferred to transport containers.
Transport
The olives are transported in not very deep and well-ventilated plastic crates.
This is an operation that must be carried out with the utmost care so as not to damage the fruit.
To obtain oils with great organoleptic and nutritional qualities, the olives are taken to the mill and subsequently milled within 24 hours of harvesting .
Washing
Once they reach the mill, the olives are unloaded onto mechanical belts to begin the washing process .
At this stage, the twigs and leaves are separated and the plants are actually washed using running, potable water .
The process is completely mechanized and is a fundamental step in improving the quality of the final product.
Crushing
Once the washing phase is complete, the olives are transported to a crusher which reduces the fruit to a paste .
There are two systems: the traditional one, in which the stone or granite millstones rotate in the crusher, also made of stone or metal, and create the pulp through pressure; or the "continuous" or " modern " system.
With the second method, the olives are crushed using hammers, rollers, worm screws or cones placed in special machinery.
Kneading
The olive paste is then sent to the malaxer which, with a slow mixing through mechanical blades, breaks the emulsion between the oil and the vegetation water present in the olive.
In this way, increasingly larger oil drops are formed.
At this point the olive paste passes to the separator, or decanter, which separates the solid part, the vegetation water and the olive oil.
During the entire pressing process, the temperature of the olive paste must never exceed 27 degrees so as not to lose the precious components contained in the olive, and to not degrade the organoleptic characteristics of the oil.
Extraction
The oil must is separated from the pomace, that is, the solid fraction made up of stone fragments, peels and pulp fragments.
Extraction is carried out with alternative systems that exploit conceptually different mechanical principles: by pressure, by centrifugation or in Sinolea.
The oil must and the pomace have different characteristics depending on the method used.
The products
Our range is wide and varied but the principle that links each product is unique: quality in selection .
In addition to the cornerstones of our offering, consisting of 100% Italian and selected EU oil , we are characterised by excellent products such as the Toscano PGI , for which we were the first to obtain certification more than 25 years ago, or single-variety products such as Mare and Terra , two very different oils created to enhance specific typical dishes of our Italian cuisine , the best in the world.
We never fail to include in our assortment the
Organic , increasingly difficult to find with quality levels worthy of the Fabbri brand.