Firstly our climate is ideal. The Kapiti Coast has a cool maritime climate with warm summer days of around 24 degrees, but cool nights of around 10 - 12 degrees. This creates enough stress on the trees to ensure they produce robust fruit that is packed full of flavours. We harvest the fruit as soon as it starts to ripen and send it to the press within hours. This means the fruit is in perfect condition and the resulting oil maintains all the pure olive flavours.

We press our olives as single varietals and store the individual oils in stainless steel tanks under a layer of argon gas which prevents any contact with oxygen. Once all the varietals are pressed and the oil stored we let it settle for 4 - 6 weeks and then conduct a tasting review of each oil.

We make notes to evaluate aroma, flavour, complexity and persistence. We decide whether any one varietal has all these qualities or if a blend would better achieve balance and harmony between fruitiness, pungency and aftertaste.

We aim to produce at least two styles of oil. Last season we produced a blend of Leccino, Koroneiki and Frantoio. The other was a Frantoio single varietal.

Each season will have slightly different climatic conditions and therefore the flavour will be unique to that season. This is one of the wonderul aspects of producing olive oil. It is alway exciting to try the new oils for the first time each season.

Mechanical harvesting may not seem as romantic as picking by hand, but it is far more efficient. We can now harvest large quantities of olives and deliver them directly to the press. This is important from both a quality and economic point of view. Our sales increase every year so creating a streamlined production system is crucial in the leap from boutique producer to a commercial enterprise while still maintaining the high quality standards that has won Kapiti Olive Oil many awards.