What is meant by cold pressed?
Cold pressing is a traditional method by which the olives are pressed without the use of any external heat. First cold pressed means “that the fruit of the olive was crushed exactly one time (i.e the first press). The cold refers to the temperature range of the fruit at the time it is crushed.” In Calabria (Italy) the olives are collected in October. In regions like Tuscany or Liguria, the olives collected in November and ground often at night are too cold to be processed efficiently without heating. The paste is regularly heated above the environmental temperatures, which may be as low as 10-15 degrees celsius, to extract the oil efficiently with only physical means. Olives pressed in warm regions like Southern Italy or Northern Africa may be pressed at significantly higher temperatures although not heated. While it is important that the pressing temperatures be as low as possible (generally below 35 degrees celsius) there is no international reliable definition of “cold pressed”. Fur
