It may come as a surprise, but all olives are green to begin with. The difference in colour only comes through ripening.

Green olives contain less oil, giving them a sharper flavour and firmer flesh than the fully ripened black olives.

The processing of green olives is based on a 40-day natural pickling, with the harvest time varying according to the differences in weather conditions and production areas.

Olives grown in mountainous areas are always harvested after those in the valleys because lower temperatures delay the ripening process. However, in normal seasons the harvesting of green olives starts in September and ends around mid October.

Green olives come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are processed using many different methods such as cracked, pitted and sliced, or stuffed with pimento, garlic, anchovies, or pretty much anything you desire.

There are many different types of green olives; the most popular being Greek, Moroccan and Spanish green olives.

You will notice differences in the taste of olives, due to the different methods used to cure, process and preserve them. Many olive producers use a lye treatment to speed up the fermentation process, which is the natural process that removes the bitterness from olives. By using a lye treatment, this process can be substantially reduced to just a few weeks.

Some olives however, are normally processed using completely natural methods, or as we prefer to call it – ‘the old fashioned way’.

Salt and water are used in a brine solution to remove the bitterness, with this natural process typically taking a few months to produce the tastiest olives. A substantially longer period of time is required using the natural process but many people (including us!) prefer the result and flavour produced by this method.

When it comes to storage, some olive producers usually pack their olives in pasteurized cans or tins or they use vacuum packs. Some olives are packed in the traditional plastic pails, adding a further level of authenticity to the process. One can also find canned green olives. As you can see, there are different packing methods for different tastes and expectations!

The variety is not limited to the packaging style. When you go online to buy green olives in Canada, you’d be pleasantly surprised to find the different forms it is available in. Green pitted olives, green olives stuffed with almonds, green natural pepper stuffed and green sliced olives are the supreme ones.