Olive Facts

We hope this page will be informative but fun.

We would love to hear from you with any interesting or fun Olive related facts or info of interest or just something fun you have discovered.

  • The most expensive olive oil (Manni’s Tuscan Oil) can be obtained at a cost of $350 or £175 a litre!
  • Olive Oil can be used as a substitute for shaving cream.
  • Olives are disgusting if not cured!  Trust us we know!
  • The only difference between green olives and black olives is ripeness.
  • California provides 200,000 tons of Olives each year and is nowhere near the largest producer!
  • The Olive tree was first recorded in Egypt 1700 years before Christ!
  • Christopher Columbus introduced Olive Oil to the Americas in 1492.
  • Olive Oil is technically a fruit juice not an oil.
  • Spain is the worlds largest producer of Olive Oil.  Yay!
  • The United States does not abide by the  International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) guidelines and can label any old oil Extra Virgin!  Buy imported!
  • Olive Oil is very high in healthy monounsaturated fats
  • Olive Oil has 9 calories for each gram of oil.
  • The Calories in the Olive are high in monounsaturated fats.
  • Olive Oil benefits the heart by helping to lower cholesterol levels.
  • You CAN fry and deep fry with olive oil.
  • The Olive tree is an evergreen that can grow to 50 ft high.
  • Many olive trees can easily live for 500 years.  A thousand is not uncommon.
  • Olive trees start producing fruit at only 4 years.
  • Growing Olive trees is easy.  You can grow olives easily from cuttings.
  • An Olive Tree can be pruned very harshly with no adverse affects to the tree.
  • Raw Olives can be sun-dried to give a more pleasant but still slightly bitter taste than a purely raw olive.
  • Tree Olives fetch a much higher price than those collected off the ground for lower quality oils.