Thanks to this agrarian reform, to the sacrifice of heroes such as Accursio Miraglia, a trade unionist from Saccense killed by Cosa Nostra, and to the sweat of the farmers, the large estates were transformed into fertile and productive olive groves and orchards.
Today the Cooperative boasts about 300 members and an area of 1200 hectares planted with olive trees in the Sciacca area, an area delimited by the Val di Mazara DOP, reserved for extra virgin olive oils obtained with strict production regulations.
Sciacca, a city of Phoenician origin that has always been dedicated to agriculture and fishing, is bordered by the sea and surrounded by mountains.
The area surrounding Sciacca is characterized by plains and low hills and has been cultivated for centuries with olive trees, in the native varieties: Cerasuola, Biancolilla and Nocellara.
How we operate
The extra virgin olive oil production process begins with the olive harvest. The most suitable moment for harvesting corresponds to the veraison phase, i.e. when the olive takes on a superficial color and the pulp is still clear.
The harvest takes place with the aid of combs and facilitating machines. The harvested olives are placed in well-ventilated baskets and then carefully selected and sent for milling within 24 hours of collection.
The selected olives are defoliated with the aid of debranchers. This stage is followed by washing with drinking water to eliminate any residual elements. The cleaned olives are finally sent to the milling.
There are two processing lines, each consisting of n. 6 kneaders of 850 Kg., from an Alfa Laval brand decanter type Sigma 6.
In order to avoid phenomena of fermentation of the olive paste and preserve its organoleptic characteristics, the kneaders are equipped with a heat exchanger to control the temperature of the incoming paste coming from the crusher and during the during kneading, the temperature is kept at 27°C.
After kneading, the oil is separated from the pomace and vegetation water in the two-phase Alfa Laval sigma 6 Decanter.
The choice of the two-phase separation system was made in order to improve the quality of the oils obtained, in fact with this technology no water is added during the kneading and extraction phases, this avoids the leaching of soluble substances such as polyphenols which they give our oils those characteristics of fruity, bitter and spicy, which characterize them and make them unique.
The oils produced are stored in the oil room in steel silos with temperature control at 18°C and inerted with nitrogen, in order to avoid possible oxidation of the oils. Overall our storage capacity is 4000 hectoliters.
Finally, the oil is packaged directly in the cooperative, guaranteeing further control over the product
