behind the scenes

Behind the scenes

Our success is the consequence of the daily hard work of more than 7.000 farmers, their families and countless other people involved in this project

egregio is the premium brand of the worldwide leader in high quality extra virgin olive oil production Oleoestepa SCA (Andalucian Cooperative Society). We are a secondary cooperative located in Estepa, Spain with 19 mills and more than 7000 farmers. We produce and sell over 34,000,000 Liters of extra virgin olive oil annually and are the most awarded producer in the world.

The commitment of our farm associates to excellence allows us to control every stage of the production process. We are vertically integrated down to the trees and work with our farmers to grow great fruit, harvest at the ideal time and use the latest technology to produce, store, and bottle our oil.

All our products exceed the International Olive Oil Council and European Union standards for extra virgin olive oil and meet the very strict quality standards of PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) Estepa, the most stringent in the world.

Ricardo García Reina

Master Oil Miller. Sor Ángela de la Cruz Cooperative

"During the harvest every minute counts. Effective coordination between farmers is key to getting the olives into the mill as quickly as possible, enabling us to extract the highest quality olive juice."

Button
Luis Martinez

Farm worker

"Despite the cold dawns and the midday heat during the olive harvest, the hard work I put in is compensated by being a part of a cooperative project of thousands of people like me."
Button
Miguel Larrubia

Technical Operator. San José de Lora de Estepa Cooperative

"My main concern is to obtain an adequate and agile treatment during the reception of the olive. I know that this is key in achieving a high quality extra virgin olive oil."
Button
Miguela Gonzalez

Head of Oleoestepa Laboratory and Tasting Panel

"I make sure that no drop of olive oil leaves Oleoestepa without being guaranteed to be of the highest quality."
Button
Remedios Tejada

Oleoestepa Lab Technitian

"Oleoestepa is a cooperative Project with a bright future. Each new generation that joins is more educated and helps make our success grow year after year."
Button
Inmaculada Rangel

Oleoestepa Tasting Panel member

"We have proof of our relevance in the sector when we decide the quality of each of the extra virgin olive oils. Therefore, I put all my senses in each tasting glass."
Button
Juan Martinez

Agronomy Technitian. San José de Lora de Estepa Cooperative

"The olive grove is my natural environment. I can´t conceive my life outside of this forest of more than 7 million trees."

Button
Pedro León

Oil Mill Master. San Plácido de Badolatosa Cooperative

"The temperature makes me crazy. I can´t stop controlling it during the extraction of the juice from the olives. Extracting at low temperatures guarantees excellent results."
Button
Manuel Pérez

Oleoestepa Farmer

"Obviously the union is strength. Feeling part of a large cooperative project makes me more demanding with myself."
Button
Antonio Duarte

Agronomy Technitian. Agropecuaria Herrera Cooperative

"My biggest concern is the olive. It must arrive totally healthy and in its optimum moment of maturity, from the grove to the mill. "
Button
Alberto González

International Sales Manager

"There is nothing that makes me happier than going to other corners of the world and seeing the fruit obtained from the cooperative effort of thousands of families."

Button

State of the art facilities

Every year, OLEOESTEPA harvest over 150 million kilograms of olives in November and December, when they reach their ideal stage of maturity.

The olive is harvested in such a manner as to keep all of its organoleptic qualities and characteristics intact. Exhaustive measures are taken to guarantee this. The increase in the automation at every stage of the process, and the commitment of all the people involved, make shorter the time to the olives to get to the mill and been processed. The digital system receiving the olives at the mill make possible to track every of our batches of production to the parcel where olives were growth.

The control of temperature during the entire mechanical process assures a continuous fulfillment of all requirements, both technical and environmental, guaranteeing a cold extraction within hours of the harvest and a maintaining a sustainable oil product from the healthy olives harvested.

In the filtering stage, by removing organic matter that speeds up oxidation and deterioration, we are able to maintain the positive characteristics and attributes of the extra virgin olive oil. This is why OLEOESTEPA counts on a filtration plant with the capacity to process approximately 12,000 tons of extra virgin olive oil and with key certifications to assure this quality: ISO 14001:2004, International Food Standard, British Retail Consortium, Certificate of Quality from the Junta de Andalucía, and Organic Certifications from USDA and European Union.

LEARN MORE