Structure

There are more than 390 members of the Cooperative (which means nearly all the producers in the parish of Blera) who work about 800 hectares with a total of over 40,000 olive trees.

Most of the olive groves have Caninese olives (which is the local variety) but there are also some new plantations of Leccino and Frantoio.

The Colli Etruschi Cooperative has a discipline which regulates the quality of the oil. All the olive groves of the members are controlled by this so that every phase of production is severely and frequently checked on.

The harvest starts in October and does not go on beyond the second week of November. The olives are hand-picked and separated into separate varieties. The olives get taken to the press the same day they were picked and are pressed (keeping the varities separate) within 12 hours of being brought in.

The oil is extracted by centrifuge with a 3-phase Pieralisi machine. The is then kept (keeping the varities separate) in stainless steel tanks which are covered in nitrogen. The oil is thus kept away from light and air and in an environment with a constant temperature of 15/7°C.