Why is fluorescent green olive oil the best on the market?

Fluorescent green extra virgin olive oil is the most sought-after on the market for its color, which is eye-catching, its powerful taste, and also because it's the first of the harvest that will begin this week. Technically, it's known as early oil, and has broken all the mental schemes among oil producers. In our country, in Catalonia, and also in Andalusia, which has Jaén as the world's leading producer of oil, the young people remember the first time they decided to harvest the green olives in October. "The older people said everything to us; the gentlest words were crazy people"says Fernando López, from the Thuelma oil mill, located in the Sierra Mágina.

Harvesting green olives in October is a madness, instead of November and December, because the olives are not ripe. There's another compelling reason: many kilos are needed to make a liter. However, anyone who reaches a liter of fluorescent green extra virgin olive oil knows they've acquired a great treasure. The liquid gold has ceased to be golden, and is now green.

The first oil painting of the season

Thus, early olive oil begins the season, and what attracts lovers of good olive oil is its novelty. "The 'seasonal olive oil' factor is a selling point, because this oil reaches the market just a few days after its production," explains Carla Gili Garriga, olive oil producer at the Anécdota Rural estate, adding that for every 100 kilos of green olives, 10 kilos of early olive oil are obtained. In other words, "the yield is very low; hence its high price," she states. And this is precisely the factor that pits young olive producers against older ones, because the latter believe that the highest profitability of the olives should always be sought, which means harvesting between November and December. "Everything has changed so much with early olive oil, that now the work in the mills is to cool them so that the maximum possible quality can be extracted, when traditionally what was done was to heat them," adds Gili. In December, the mills were heated by the usual cold temperatures of the year, which is not the case in October, when it is still hot. "Since olives begin to oxidize when they are harvested, as happens with all the fruits we harvest from trees, the mills are cooled to prevent the oxidation process from accelerating," he explains. All of this is an innovation, a commitment to quality, not so much quantity. The case of early-season oils is a prime example.

To continue, the producer points out the differences that exist between the early oils and those of the first ray, which are also calledunfiltered oilsThey don't look the same visually because unfiltered olives are cloudy. On the other hand, early olive oil is fluorescent green because it's made from green olives: many mills will be opening this week. And there's another key characteristic: early olive oil requires the mills to open for a few weeks in October, but after that, some close again until the "normal" olive harvest begins, that is, when the fruit has acquired bright, reddish-brown hues.

Early-season olive oils are the current big revolution, one that has shattered all the mental assumptions among extra virgin olive oil producers. In contrast, "unfiltered olive oils, those from the jet, are traditional; they've always been made, and can only be sold in the first months of the season, and not later," says Carla Gili. Why? Because they're for immediate consumption, while oils, generally speaking, including early-season oils, have a best-before date, which is usually one year. Best-before means that, after the date indicated on the label, the oil won't have the same organoleptic properties. However, unfiltered or jet oil has suspended particles, which can ferment if not consumed immediately. "Brands usually market only a few units of unfiltered oils because they know that, once they reach the store, they can't control the sales and consumption process," says the producer. In fact, unfiltered oils could be compared to some natural wines. All of this doesn't mean that first-run oils aren't enjoying their prime. "They're as fashionable as the early ones, and that's a good thing because they've always been fashionable in the countryside; if they've reached the city, it means the oil culture is spreading," Gili asserts. The qualities consumers look for in unfiltered oil are density, flavor, and also visual appeal. For salads, for example, unfiltered oils are good because they add more flavor to the raw ingredients. Many people also prefer to eat them on toast.

Olive oil experts emphasize the suspended organic matter in unfiltered olive oil, which is one of the factors that degrades olive oils over time. That's why they recommend consuming these oils as soon as possible, even though producers indicate a three-month shelf life on the labels. "We've found that unfiltered olive oil is already degraded in one month," he explains. Otherwise, one option for consumption is freezing, because the oil tolerates freezing well. "We can freeze it in small jars and then defrost it as we want to consume it," they say. If it's not frozen, unfiltered olive oil will quickly lose all its qualities. On the other hand, filtered early extra virgin olive oil, which has a fluorescent green color, can be consumed for months because it maintains all its characteristics. Early and unfiltered olive oils will be the first to be produced by producers, but both are different stories. They maintain a single point of connection: the passion they inspire because they are from the new season.

Finally, everything indicates that in this campaign that has just begun, oil prices will become more expensive, as the ARA has already announced. We eatThe reasons for the price increase are diverse, but above all because there will be a gap between supply, which will be scarce, and demand, which will be high. However,It could be that a liter of olive oil will not reach 10 euros, as happened in the 2023/24 campaign., and the final price for the consumer will remain at six euros. This will be the case because the oil mills have stocks of produced oil,from the previous campaign, 2024/25, which was a year of a splendid harvestThe oil stock they are starting with is 280,000 tons, which is an additional 100,000 tons compared to last year's campaign.