Lowburn olive grower Stephen Morris has been putting his Italian olive press back together this week, in preparation to start producing oil from Monday.
Over six weeks and plenty of late nights he is expecting to press more than 60 tonnes of olives from backyard and lifestyle block growers, as well as a couple of commercial operators.
He said he had been checking out the olives on local trees and they were "looking pretty good".
"That long summer has helped development, and we’re probably running ten days early."
Mr Morris also has the annual Central Otago Olive Growers Community Press Day in the calendar.
Last year’s community press oil won a silver medal at the New Zealand Olive Oil Awards, and group chairman Michael Hope said this year’s conditions could produce an even better drop.
Mr Morris’ advice to backyard pickers was to strip a tree of all its olives.
"You can take everything. If it’s got colour — if it’s black — it’s 10 to 15% oil, but a green olive will still have 6 to 7%," he said.
"You can take an olive, rub it between your fingers, give it a squeeze, and you’ll be able to feel the oil in it."
His second tip was to avoid dirt and stones — they don’t "help the flavour", he said.
Central Otago is one of the southernmost spots olives are grown, and their oil has a distinctive taste with potentially greater health benefits.
"Olives in Central get higher polyphenols," Mr Morris said.
"It creates a green, more pungent oil. It catches in your throat and makes you cough — but that’s a good thing."
Press day participation costs $20 for Central Otago Olive Growers members and $40 for others, and includes a 250ml bottle of the freshly pressed oil.
