 Can Solivera produces top olive oils in the traditional way, mainly pressed or extracted from Arbequina olives that are cultivated in various olive groves on the Iberian peninsula. All oils are poured into various sizes (and types) of containers at our plant at Forallac in Girona: 25 cl (glass), 50 cl (glass and PET) and 3 litres (tin). Those containers are then carefully checked. In growing the olives, we are always guided by the following principles:
We consider each olive tree to be a member of our family. Many are hundreds of years old and still producing. Harvesting by hand is expensive, and even though it would pay to replace people by machines, Can Solivera deliberately avoids using large harvesting machines that could damage the trees or their fruit. Indeed, such machines can shake the root hairs loose or bruise the olives before they are ready. Unsettled root hairs will limit the lifespan of the olive tree and bruised olives need to be pressed immediately to prevent a loss in quality. For us, the machine is secondary to the tree, not the other way around.
 Tradition as a teacher
There are ancient Roman texts describing how best to care for olive trees---guidelines that are still followed in the Spanish countryside. Proper pruning is an essential element in that connection. For flawless fruit, the trees need wind and sunlight. For the quality of the oil it is therefore important to open up the middle of the tree. There is a modern tendency to adapt the form of the olive tree to fit the large picking machines: a straight trunk with short branches out to the side. For Can Solivera, however, a good olive tree is broad and round and open in the middle, because that is the only way the sun will reach each and every olive, allowing it to ripen and mature in the best way possible.
Our olive trees get personal attention throughout the entire year. After all, to make a top-rate olive oil you are going to need flawless olives---and preferably young and green ones due to the particular taste properties they carry. Picking them up from the ground is not allowed. The less time there is between harvest and extraction/pressing, the better: less than 24 hours if possible, or at most a day longer if undamaged olives are not piled too high and are well aerated. Opinions differ as to the quality of olive oil that is extracted by means of a stainless steel centrifuge in comparison to that which is pressed in a traditional mill with stone wheels and straw mats. Can Solivera considers both methods to be good, since each technique provides a taste experience of its own.
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