After a lengthy process involving cleaning, crushing and filtering, the long-awaited oil finally begins to flow. This is an important ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine. This Wednesday marked the start of the olive harvest in Ibiza, which arrives around a month and a half earlier than in areas of the peninsula such as Jaén due to the different climatic conditions.
On this first day, more than 1,000 kilos of olives were processed at the Joan Benet oil mill — named after the owner and the brand under which the oil is marketed. The harvest will last until mid-November, and good yields are expected following last season's disastrous harvest, when Joan Benet did not produce a single litre of oil due to a combination of wood pigeon infestation and drought.
For the first problem, he says, he decided to remedy it with traps that reflect sunlight and repel these wood pigeons thanks to a very simple mechanism with mirrors and a small solar-powered battery that also emits noise. He bought the first of these traps this year, but Joan Benet says he is going to buy ‘three or four more, because they cover a limited radius of land and I am going to place them point to point’.
Drought
The second problem is more difficult to manage, as it is beyond his control. Although he has a drip irrigation system for the nearly 1,300 olive trees on his five-and-a-half-hectare farm, these trees need rain to produce fruit of the right size. No matter how much irrigation is installed, the farmer points out, ‘when it rains, the roots of the trees drink from everywhere, which is not the case with drip irrigation, which can only do so from specific points.’
Although the recent rains flooded certain areas of the island, they have been very positive for his specific land near Sant Josep: ‘94 litres fell, which has been very good for the trees. It was a very good rain, and all the water was put to good use.’ However, despite these recent rains, it cannot be considered anything other than ‘a very dry year,’ in Benet's words.
The only positive aspect of last year's disaster is that these trees have been able to grow and produce more fruit due to alternation. This means that the harvest is expected to be good. However, this may mean that next year will be worse. Nevertheless, these olive trees are coping with the drought better than other crops on the island.
Types
Like many other fruits, olives come in different varieties. Ninety per cent of the olives grown by Joan Benet are the Arbequina variety. The remaining 10% correspond to two other varieties: picual and coroneica. He explains that the reason for this is that the Arbequina variety produces the mildest oil, which is the most popular, but it is also the most sensitive and deteriorates the fastest. That's why I add the other 10% to help it keep better».
Around 15% of the oil can be extracted from this tonne of fruit. This batch has generated a yield of 16%, or just over 160 litres, which is close to the average, although yields can vary between 12% and 20%. This depends on various factors, such as the amount of water inside the fruit. In a good year, the farmer explains, around 36,000 kilos of produce are harvested.
Characteristics
"To obtain PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) certification, very strict criteria must be met," explains Benet. 'The oil must undergo analysis in a state-authorised laboratory. The oil can be either virgin or extra virgin, but to obtain the PGI designation, it must be extra virgin. To obtain extra virgin certification, the acidity level must be between 0 and 0.8; virgin certification can be obtained with an acidity level between 0.8 and 2, provided that other characteristics are met.
The olive trees on the island begin flowering in mid-April. The olives then grow until the beginning of October. The entire harvest must take place in Ibiza during October and November, at a different time to the mainland where the harvest begins at the end of the year or even in early January.
The process
Harvesting takes place either late at night or early in the morning. In any case, the olives quickly enter the mechanical process for processing. First, the olives are taken directly from the field to the machinery, where they begin their ascent through a tube that separates them from any leaves, which are ejected outside. Once separated, they pass through another machine that cleans them, and then through an electronic scale that sends the total weight information to a computer.
The olives, still whole, arrive at the mill, where they are crushed. Once crushed, they go to the mixer, which stirs the crushed olives, and from there to a horizontal centrifuge. There, the oil, which still contains some impurities, such as crushed pine nuts, is filtered to remove these remaining impurities, which will also be used as biomass. The oil then goes to a vertical centrifuge, which finishes cleaning it, and from there it is finally transferred to the tanks, where it awaits bottling and marketing.