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<pre>Hello, how many litres of olive oil in a tonne? Variable but around
1000-1100. Specific gravity of about 0.9.

Do you pay any premium for particular varieties? I would if there were
sufficient to choose from. In future years most definitely. By paying by
the tonne for the oil there is an inbuilt premium in any event. Higher
yielding varieties (eg Paragon @ 22%) means you get more dollars/tonne than
lower yielding ones (eg Verdale @ 14%).

How much delay is acceptable from picking to pressing? The sooner the
better although there is considerable debate on the matter. Quite
inadvertantly last year I overlooked 200kgs that was stacked with a whole
lot of empty boxes. About 3 weeks later I found them, quite black, quite
mouldy. I decided to put them through in any event and tested the oil
afterwards. Still <1% acidity and pleasant organoleptic features. Archer,
in his book An Introduction to Olive Oil Processing, has a photograph that
looks just like mine did. He quotes the processor thus "Old olives and this
mould on the paste gives a good flavour to my oil. This is what my family
loves". The book is available via oliveaus@ozemail.com.au

Regards
</pre>
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