hand picking our thirty acres of trees, with the help of a handheld limbshaker, family members and some very loyal friends.  Handpicking ensures that the delicate fruit is handled with the care that it needs, and that the quality and ripeness of the fruit is optimal for harvest; overripe fruit increases the volume of oil but compromises the quality.

And to ensure that the fruit is immediately pressed, we have installed on-site a deleafer/ washer and a state of the art Italian olive pressing plant that uses the pressure of a centrifuge to extract the oil.  This means that the olives are cold pressed, that is, that no heat is used in the process.  Heat alters the olive oil’s chemistry and compromises its nutrient value and quality.

arikari extra virgin olive oil is one of the finest olive oils available anywhere in the world.  

We have always known this, but in order to give the fact independent and international verification we rushed samples of our 2007 and 2009 harvests to the LA International EVOO Competition; these are the only times we have had any of our oil judged.

We struck SILVER in 2007 and then GOLD in 2009.  The competition is one of the largest in the world and attracts around 400 oils from the main olive growing regions.  The winners are displayed at the prestigious LA County  Fair, which attracts around 1.5m visitors.

We ensure that the oil we produce is of the best possible quality by