Stainless steel malaxers and decanter centrifuge in a continuous olive oil mill

Industry 04

Virgin olive oil: continuous and batch processing

Between the olive and the extra virgin oil, every hour of waiting and every degree of malaxing counts. We help mills choose their process and get the best yield from it without sacrificing quality.

Virgin olive oil is obtained by mechanical means only. Two families of processes coexist in Morocco: the batch (discontinuous) process, with stone mills and hydraulic presses with fibre mats, still common in traditional mills and small units; and the continuous process, with a hammer crusher, malaxers and a two- or three-phase decanter centrifuge.

The continuous process brings more capacity, hygiene and consistency; the batch process uses little water and energy but more labour, and its quality depends heavily on how clean the mats are. We support the choice, upgrading and running of both, as well as the handling of mill wastewater and pomace.

Key process steps

  1. 01

    Receiving and short storage

    Weighing, lot checks, quick milling to keep acidity low; leaf removal and washing.

  2. 02

    Crushing

    Batch: stone mills. Continuous: hammer or disc crusher.

  3. 03

    Malaxing

    Stainless steel malaxers with controlled time and temperature (cold extraction below 27 °C).

  4. 04

    Solid-liquid separation

    Batch: paste on mats in a hydraulic press. Continuous: two-phase (no added water) or three-phase decanter.

  5. 05

    Oil-water separation

    Vertical centrifuge or natural settling of the oil.

  6. 06

    Storage and packing

    Stainless tanks under inert gas, filtration, bottling; use of pomace and wastewater.

Press with fibre mats in a traditional olive mill, virgin olive oil running off

The challenges we see

  • Acidity and sensory defects caused by olives waiting too long
  • Extraction yield and oil lost in the pomace
  • Polluting mill wastewater that is hard to treat
  • Hygiene of mats and presses in the batch process

How we help

  • Choice and sizing: moving from batch to continuous, two- or three-phase
  • Setting crushing, malaxing and decanter for yield and quality
  • Hygiene plan, traceability and certification readiness
  • Mill wastewater management and pomace valorisation
  • Campaign maintenance and start-up readiness

Standards and frameworks

  • Moroccan law 28-07 and ONSSA
  • IOC trade standard (olive oils)
  • Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 for EU export
  • Codex Stan 33-1981
  • HACCP / ISO 22000

A project in this industry?

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