Does size matter?
There is a wide variety of olive varieties and they usually range between 1,5 y 3 cm. The largest is the so-called Gordal and the smallest the Arbequina.
Sizing is carried out according to the number of units per kilogram. It is compulsory for whole, pitted, stuffed and halved olives. Within each group there must be a maximum difference between them of 3 millimetres in diameter.
From 150 fruit per kilogram, the largest diameter must not exceed the smallest by 5 millimetres. On the other hand, in packages of 2,5 kilograms and above, two consecutive sizes may be grouped together, from 220 inclusive.
A few remarks
For green olives, in addition to separating olives by class, the preserved olives are separated from their mother brine to achieve greater homogeneity and to ensure that the brines are adjusted to the values specified by the process.
The size of the olive is used to know how many olives fit per 1000 gr, so that if a size is 160/200 it means that in 1 kg of manzanilla olives there is room for between 160 and 200 units.
Classy olives
We can distinguish several classes: whole olives, pitted, stuffed, halves, quarters, wedges and slices.
- EXTRA: These are of superior quality, although slight colour changes that do not affect the overall appearance are permitted. A 5% which are not of the exact same characteristics are also permitted.
- FIRST: Olives of good quality with a suitable degree of ripeness. Up to 10 % of olives outside the class but meeting the requirements of Class 2 shall be accepted.
- SECOND: Table olives which, although they cannot be classified in the two previous categories, meet the general conditions laid down for table olives.
Olives for salad o Salad Olives.
- It has a percentage of broken olives greater than 10 % of the weight obtained after separating the net drained olives from the stuffing (pepper or pepper paste) and any capers. Mixed varieties are authorised only for Group A olives.
Have you tried our delicious olives?
At Escamilla Olives in the case of Gordales We use the largest and most beautiful ones to pack them in brine and in the case of, for example, "mojo picón dressing" we use a different and original dressing that makes them more attractive for sale. It is all a question of organising the sizes to distinguish the different types of olives. This is the best way to adapt to the needs of users.
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