👩🌾 Olive grower
Also known as: Olive farmer, Olive producer
A farmer who grows olive trees, tends the grove and gathers the crop; the farm accounts for 84% of the cost of olive oil.
An olive grower is a farmer who cultivates olive trees, tends the grove, chooses the type of orchard and gathers the crop for oil or table olives. The oil's flavour is decided in the grove: harvest timing affects bitterness, and bruised fruit raises acidity. The farm bears most costs: 84% of the cost of a kilogram of oil.
The working year revolves around the harvest. In the Northern Hemisphere, oil olives are harvested from October to April, in the Southern Hemisphere from April to July. Table olives are picked by hand: green ones in early autumn, black ones in late autumn. Oil olives are gathered ripe in late autumn or early winter — by machine or with rakes, poles and nets.
Hand-picking is hard work: about 80 kg of fruit per picker per day, and it accounts for 50–60% of field costs. Until the 1980s olives worldwide were picked only by hand, while modern hedgerow orchards are now worked by over-the-row harvesters that remove almost all the fruit. According to the International Olive Council, farm costs make up 84% of the cost of a kilogram of oil, and transport and processing only 16%.
The grower also chooses the type of orchard: traditional (up to 180 trees per hectare), intensive (180–800) or super-intensive (over 800). Traditional orchards still dominate — 74% in the countries of the Council's study — but they yield from 370 kg of oil per hectare, while super-intensive ones give up to 1,579 kg. Almost all olive trees in the world are grown from cuttings of cultivars: seedlings go through a juvenile phase of 4–9 years.
Why it matters to you. The taste of the oil is decided in the grove. Once the fruit turns violet, its phenol content falls sharply, so oil from a late harvest is milder, less bitter and less pungent. And olives bruised during picking give oil with higher acidity. That is why careful, well-timed harvesting is the grower's main concern.
Facts
| Main use | Oil and table olives |
|---|---|
| Duration | Harvest: October–April in the Northern Hemisphere, April–July in the Southern |
| Yield | Oil per hectare: from 370 kg in traditional orchards to 1,579 kg in super-high-density ones |
How it connects to Olives
👩🌾 Olive grower → works with → 🫒 Olives
Links
- Where they work
- 🌳 Olive grove
- Works with
- 🫒 Olives, 🧺 Olive harvest
- Part of
- 🏭 Olive harvest and the oil mill
- In other topics
- 🧑🌾 Farmer
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that most olive trees are grown from seed?
No. Almost all are grown from cuttings of cultivars, because seedlings go through a juvenile phase of 4–9 years.
How many trees per hectare in an intensive orchard?
Between 180 and 800, according to the orchard types the grower can choose.
How much does hand-picking cost compared with other field work?
It accounts for 50–60% of field costs.
What does a late harvest do to the oil?
Once the fruit turns violet its phenols fall sharply, so the oil is milder, less bitter and less pungent.
Why do bruised olives matter?
Fruit bruised in picking gives oil with higher acidity.
What to read next
- 🌳 Olive grove — A plot planted with olive trees for harvesting.
- 🧺 Olive harvest — Picking olives by hand, with poles or with tree shakers, usually in autumn and winter.
Similar
👅 Olive oil taster · 👷 Olive mill operator · 🍷 Vigneron (grape grower)
Sources
- International Olive Council: International Olive Oil Production Costs Study (2015)
- PROTA: van der Vossen H.A.M. et al. Olea europaea L. (Pl@ntUse, 2007)
- Campestre C. et al. The Compounds Responsible for the Sensory Profile in Monovarietal Virgin Olive Oils. Molecules 2017, 22, 1833
- Taiti C. et al. Does the Harvest Type Affect Olive Health? Plants 2023, 12, 3843