One of the most crucial phases of the entire olive oil supply chain is undoubtedly the harvesting of olives. This is the initial moment of the entire process and especially involves a high expenditure of energy and resources. It requires care and attention to preserve the integrity of the drupes from which the quality of the oil will depend, which is why the choice of suitable tools.
The tools for picking olives can be both manual and mechanical. Historically, the most effective but laborious tool of all has always been used: the hands; or at most, traditional trade tools were used. With this system, it was possible to preserve the quality of the drupe and the olive trees. The moment of harvesting required meticulous work and became a moment of sharing.
Unfortunately, this method involved – and still involves – really long times that risk negatively affecting costs and productivity.
For this reason many olive companies have completely abandoned traditional methods of harvesting olives in favor of modern tools, which allow for optimizing time and resources.
We who want to remain faithful to those who came before and respect tradition have decided to continue using the tools that have been the protagonists of our harvests for 106 years. At the same time, however, we wanted to open ourselves to new technologies, managing to reconcile the past, present, and future.
Let's take a closer look at what the tools for picking olives.
What are the tools for harvesting olives?
As we have already mentioned, there are different methods – manual and mechanical – for harvesting olives, for which we use different tools. Very often the choice between the two procedures is mainly due to 3 conditions:
- type of olives to be harvested
- quality of the soil in which the olive trees grow
- timing and quantities to be respected
The harvesting of olives takes place between October and January and it is essential to understand the right moment to start, in order to obtain high-quality oil.
There are many variables that affect the harvesting times: the quality of the olives, the type of oil one wants to produce – to have organic oil, for example, the olives must be at the early stages of ripeness – and the tools one chooses to use.
The manual tools
Let's see what the traditional methods used in the past.
Hand harvesting
The hand harvesting from the ground also known as natural cascola is one of the manual methods available to us. No special tools are required; in fact, one only needs their own hands. One simply has to wait for the olives to fall spontaneously to the ground or onto the nets that have been previously placed.
However, this method has some contraindications: the olives that have fallen to the ground have already reached a high stage of ripeness and the oil obtained from them is not suitable for food purposes.
Brucatura or cascola
This method only requires human strength and patience: it actually consists of rhand-picked the olives are directly harvested from the tree.
To carry out the picking, secondary tools such as:
- ladders wooden ones to reach the higher parts of the tree
- small tools like combs that facilitate and speed up the work
The olives that are collected through falling or picking are completely free of leaves but above all maintain intact their quality, because they have not suffered damage or bruises. They are immediately placed in perforated baskets and taken to the mill. This method is one of those we still use today because it helps preserve the integrity of our precious Taggiasca olives.
Shaking or beating
Another manual tool is the pole useful for carrying out the shaking of the olive trees: the olives are shaken using large sticks or poles that only experienced gatherers can use.
Those who use this method must shake the branches loaded with drupes with these sticks. The olives then fall onto the nets laid at the foot of the tree and are then stored in jute bags, ready for transport to the mill.
The mechanical tools
Now let's see what the more modern tools that can replace or complement the previously described systems.
The useful mechanical tools to collect the olives there are three:
- mechanical shakers: these are special tools that are wrapped around the trunk of the olive tree and through continuous oscillations cause the drupes to fall. These end up on appropriately arranged frames that cushion the impact of the fall, reducing the risk of damage.
- electric shakers shake the branches rich in fruits, causing the olives to fall. They can be used directly by the operator and therefore held manually or attached to a tractor.
- electric harvesters are mechanical sticks that shake the branches prompting the detachment of the drupes from them. This is the evolution of the traditional harvesting method. We at Frantoio Sommariva also use these tools to speed up and optimize the harvest.
Which to choose between manual and mechanical tools?
So, after describing the methods that an olive grower can choose for the olive harvesting it is natural to ask the following question: are manual tools or mechanical ones better? There is no single answer. The choice is often constrained by factors such as the type of cultivar to be harvested and the conformation of the land. In our beautiful Liguria, in fact, the olive and vineyard cultivations are found on typical terraces that we simply call bands; these are strips of land bordered by dry stone walls that form a large staircase. This particular conformation of the territory makes the harvesting more difficult and demanding and requires specific tools and techniques for olive harvesting.
At other times, however, it is just a matter of timing: electric means are more efficient because they allow for the collection of more olives in a short time.
The choice of tools to use depends on:
- experience
- territory
- goals
- type of cultivar
- timing
We from Frantoio Sommariva we have chosen to use various toolsthat combine past and present, to keep up with market demands, to protect the quality of our olives, and to respect the agricultural traditions we want to preserve. The extra virgin olive oil that we produce encompasses everythingthe love and passion we put into our work every day.