The Finest Delicacies across the globe!

Kalamata Olive is a fruits of the Olea europea tree (an amazing tree that typically lives for hundreds of years). This olive fruit is classed botanically as a drupe, similar to peach or plum. Within the stone of each olive are one or two seeds.

Our Natural Kalamata olive is smooth, brown – black tones of color, almond shaped, plump and juicy. It offers an earthy, powerful flavor. However , fresh olives that are unprocessed are actually inedible because of their extreme bitterness. This bitterness is due to the glycoside content, which is neutralized while the olives are cured in salt water brine.

Our farm, at Paralion Astros, a seaside village 4 kms away from Astros, has been planted with olive trees (the most famous in the world Kalamata  variety and the special  Blonde Kynouria  variety) since 1954.The mild Mediterranean climate with long periods of sunshine becomes ideal for agriculture and especially olive growing.

Our Kalamata olives are carefully collected by hands and only the olives that are 

ripe enough, during a time period beginning at the middle of October till January. We sort out each batch of the new gathered olives by quality and in sizes, and then we put them in olive tanks and barrels with only water and salt, without any other artificial or chemical interference. The olives come to their natural proper edible taste and flavour after about 3 (three) months since they have been placed in tanks and barrels. After this time interval, they are ready for packing and consumption.

 

Processing:

Our major product is Brine Kalamata Olives but we also produce Flavored Brine Kalamata Olives and Fresh Raw Kalamata olives.

 

Brine Kalamata Olives:

Kalamata olives are not used to be sold as Green. When the Kalamata olives are green on the trees (unripe), We let them on the trees until they get ripe enough (reddish and black, black is better), then we harvest them two times in turns and selectively by hands because not all the olives are ripe at the same time and conditions and in the third time, we use stick to shake the branches because all of the remaining olives are ripe.

Harvesting by hand will guarantee that the ripe olives (reddish,black) will harvest only in each time of harvesting and the customers will buy the ripe reddish black olives without unripe green olives. if ripe kalamata olives mixed with unripe Kalamata olives in the barrels or olive tanks, after about 3 months (when they are ready for eating), the unripe Kalamata olives will have green-blonde colour, while the ripe olives will have brown-black colour. Also, the taste of the green-blonde olives is more sharp.

After the olives fall on the olive nets which are laid on the ground under the trees, we put them in plastic crates. plastic crates are used for olives transportation to the warehouse where they will be processed. Using plastic crates are better than sacks because plastic creates allow the olives to breathe fresh air and prevent hot and perished.

At the warehouse, the olives are selected according to the quality and size, we use size-selector machine to separate each size alone and we remove the low olives quality (low quality means any olive which is affected by tree diseases, it has stains, it is very soft, etc.).

We buy the best quality Greek sea salt to prepare the brine of the olives. The mixture of water+ salt is called "brine".

We wash the olives, put the brine in the food grade barrels and tanks (vinegar is according to customers request), put each size of the olives in barrels and tanks. cover them and await for about 3 months to come to their edible taste.

During this time (about 3 months), we check the olives and brine level in the barrels and tanks. The natural phenomenon of the olives start slowly taking their bitterness out their body and coming to their edible taste after about 3 months. It is a work of nature! We do not add artificial preservatives or additives.

After the olives are ready (approximately after 3 months), we open the barrels or tanks, take the olives out of the barrels or tanks, rinse the olives with water, check and adjust the acidity of the brine, remove any olive which is not good quality, then we pack the olives in tins or barrels (it depends on the customer's request) with their brine (vinegar is according to the customers request).

Some of the customers like to add a little olive oil in each package, olive oil makes the olives more bright, it gives them a mild fruity taste and also it forms a thin layer at the top of the tin or the barrel, which is protective against the oxidation of the olives from the atmospheric air.

 

Flavored Brine Kalamata Olives:

Most of our customers prefer the natural taste of olives but we also produce special oders for kalamata olives with lemon slices and chilli or small pieces of carrots or celery --- etc. This is a matter of preference from our customers.

 

Fresh Raw Kalamata Olives:

We produce raw olives (after harvest the kalamata olives from the trees) in crates for our customers who are near to our warehouse.

If the distance is far (specially for export), we wash the olives, put the olives in barrels with water only, not to be perished till the buyer receives them at his/her warehouse. Then he/she can process them as he/she likes at his/her preferable procedure.

Some Italian processors buy huge quantities of fresh raw olives at this way to press them for producing olive oil.