Early in 1999,
California Olive Ranch planted two highly prized Spanish olive varietals - Arbequina and Arbosana. These nursery-grown plants were not the normal size for olive trees. They were hedge row olive trees grown vineyard style about 8’ tall. Besides using Mediterranean olive varietals,
California Olive Ranch has also pioneered in California a
NEW, innovative farming method from Spain called "Super High Density Plantings" (SHDPs).
Using this system,
California Olive Ranch pioneered SHDP and planted 570-670 olive trees per acre, versus the traditional method of approximately 100-150 trees per acre. But the success of SHDP is about so much more than just increasing annual yields per acre.
California Olive Ranch has also been able to harvest the first crop much earlier. Regular olive trees usually begin producing fruit after five to seven years, while
California Olive Ranch's trees produce their first fruit after only two years of growth.
The traditional way to harvest olives is by handpicking each fruit, then allowing this ripe fruit to sit in the sun during the collection process. Planting hedge row olive trees allows
California Olive Ranch to better control high cost issues inherent with hand harvesting by using mechanical harvesting machines to rapidly pick the fruit and deliver it to the processing facility - all within minutes instead of hours or days like conventional methods.
California Olive Ranch operates two state of the art milling facilities. The first is located on 733 acres in Oroville, CA. The second is located on 1,700 acres in Artois, CA. We also have a large orchard located on 2,200 acres in Corning, CA. Our facilities are designed to produce an abundant supply of fresh, flavorful, aromatic EVOO. We also process fruit for more than 4,000 additional contracted acres.
Click here to view a video about how our harvest and milling process produces the freshest and highest quality EVOO available.