Olive oil processing
Olive oil producers across the globe rely on Alfa Laval’s world-leading expertise and equipment to get the very best out of their olives, while maximizing efficiency and profitability. Alfa Laval supplies some of the most advanced olive oil processing technology available, backed by decades of practical know-how, both in quality olive oil production and by-product recovery and valorization. It makes a big difference to what producers can achieve, offering a crucial edge over the competition.
The benefits of Alfa Laval’s advanced professional solutions for the olive oil industry:
- A 30% reduction in water usage for the olive oil production process
- A 20% reduction in energy usage, with waste also cut by 20%
- Flexibility with the settings and control to maximum yield quality and volume
- Industry-leading systems that are compliant with global hygiene and legislative standards
Unlike most suppliers, Alfa Laval can provide equipment for all olive processing priorities and requirements, for set-ups of almost any size, capacity and complexity, whether it’s defoliation, olive oil extraction or final packaging. Alfa Laval also has the expertise to integrate different processes, technologies and equipment, giving olive oil producers more cost-effective and better-quality results
Olive oil production
Whether you need a single machine or complete process lines including installation and commissioning, you can reap huge benefits from working with a technology supplier completely familiar with all aspects of olive oil production.
Get cost-effective, better-quality results
Olive oil by-products
An innovative four step re-milling process to find new ways of reusing by-products from olive oil production, so they have a greater commercial value.
Happy customers
The Sacco Oliveti case story
For Italian olive oil producer, Sacco Oliveti quality is paramount. The family-owned company has been producing extra virgin olive oil for decades from the distinctive Peranzana olives, grown across 6,500 hectares of ancient olive groves in Puglia.
The De Carlo case story
For the last 50 years, the family-run olive oil producer De Carlo in Bitritto, Italy has been using Alfa Laval’s olive oil production equipment, including the latest Sigma 6 especially designed for small-scale olive oil mills. Watch the video to see how they improve the quality of their olive oil, optimize costs, and reduce the consumption of water.
The Sociedad Agricola Ouro Vegetal (SAOV) case story
In this video, the award-winning Portuguese olive oil producer Sociedad Agricola Ouro Vegetal (SAOV) reveals how they handle the biggest challenges faced in the last 3-4 years, that is, to meet the recent increase in extra production while maintaining a high-quality standard for their olive oil.
Olive Oil Production
From large-scale producers of the most popular brands to family businesses batch-producing artisanal extra virgin olive oils, Alfa Laval is there to support companies of all shapes and sizes.
Alfa Laval’s advanced equipment and consolidated olive oil process solutions help mills of all sizes to grow and differentiate their product offering in a competitive market. With industry-leading expertise, Alfa Laval works with customers to solve complex challenges and meet the ever-changing tastes of demanding consumers.
What Alfa Laval offers master millers to turbo-boost their performance:
- Configuration and control flexibility that generates the highest possible yield
- Solutions tailored to the needs of the mill from experienced professionals who understand each business
- Improved efficiency and sustainability performance with up to 30% lower water consumption and up to 20% reductions in both energy and waste
- A broad and flexible portfolio of processing solutions, with expert support to help producers find the right technology for them
- Industry-leading innovation that gives continuous access to the latest technological solutions
Expertise and technology for virtually any olive oil need
Alfa Laval matches the passion that master millers put into every batch of olive oil with solutions designed to meet the toughest of challenges. From individual components and process modules like the Olive Oil Booster to complete turnkey projects, Alfa Laval’s portfolio is engineered to help optimize production while simultaneously minimizing both costs and environmental impact. As a partner, producers also get access to a wealth of unique knowledge, gained working with olive oil mills around the world. It’s how Alfa Laval ensures producers achieve the highest levels of both product quality and profitability.
Improving everyday processes – every step of the way
Master millers know that every part of their processing – from olive reception to storage of the oil – can always be improved. Optimizing yield, improving phenols and aromatic components, or minimizing water and energy consumption can significantly boost the bottom line over time. Producers can take advantage of Alfa Laval’s innovative solutions and years of industry experience to avoid common issues and improve each process step in the extraction process.
Fruit preparation
Cleaning and washing
Removing leaves, dirt, and stones is essential for ensuring the hygienic conditions required for producing high-quality olive oil and equipment protection. Gentle washing preserves fruit integrity and reduces machine wear and tear. Alfa Laval offers four types of washers for different needs: automatic with conveyor, compact with defoliator, standard, and soft washers.
Crushing and depitting
Paste preparation is another critical step before malaxation to increase olive oil yield and quality. Alfa Laval provides crushers and depitters to meet different production needs. The hammer crushers (30–75 hp) stand out with their high throughput, robustness, reliability, and being easy to adjust for different outputs. The disc crushers are ideal for continuous processing and green, spicy oils, with simple disc spacing adjustment and minimal risk of overheating
Paste preparation and oil extraction
Heating, retention, and mixing (malaxation) are crucial steps in the olive oil extraction process, which, together with the amount of oxygen in contact with the paste, play a major role in determining the quality and quantity of the oil. It is the combination of time and temperature that affects the enzymatic activity, which is responsible for the release of the oil.
Alfa Laval offers malaxers and heaters that fulfil the requirements for olive oil producers with different types of operation and processing capacities. The Atmosphera round malaxers handle both batch and large-scale continuous operations, providing efficient heating and shorter malaxing times. The Iberia round malaxers provide continuous heating and effective mixing of olive paste, enabling efficient oil release and preparation for separation.
Purification and clarification
Alfa Laval’s decanter centrifuges are designed to maximize oil extraction efficiency and preserve product quality by preventing temperature rise during separation. Suitable for both small-scale and industrial producers, these compact, reliable units deliver high-efficiency clarification, extraction, dewatering, and classification for first and second extraction (re-milling).
The final quality of olive oil depends on the purity achieved during final clarification. Alfa Laval high-speed separators are engineered for gentle oil treatment, outstanding separation efficiency, and easy installation and operation. These separators are designed to separate two immiscible liquid phases of different densities, with solids discharged intermittently, making them ideal for oil clarification (two- and three-phase separation) and oil recovery from black water (three-phase).
Packaging
Bag-in-box packaging is becoming increasingly popular for olive oil because it prevents oxygen from coming into contact with the oil during storage and dispensing. This boosts product freshness and flavour consistency, while also extending the shelf-life of olive oil products. Alfa Laval’s compact, customizable bag-in-box fillers support high output speeds, quick changeovers, and efficient filling for a wide range of bag sizes and cap types. These systems are designed for easy installation, operation, and maintenance, and can be integrated with cartoning and pasteurization modules to boost productivity.
Automation and control
Easy-to-use control systems are essential in ensuring olive oil of high quality and consistent specifications. Alfa Laval provides a comprehensive selection of mechanical, electrical, and electronic automation systems to monitor and control olive oil processing operations, paving the way to better quality and greater processing efficiency, ensuring set-ups that match the manpower available, and providing operational data, tracking, and self-diagnostics to get ahead of the competition.
Optimizing the edible oil process
Turning crude oil into high-quality edible oil demands both expertise and precision. Alfa Laval brings extensive process knowledge across every refining stage – from degumming, neutralization, dewaxing, fat modification, bleaching, deodorization to GE and 3-MCPD mitigation. Our proven technologies ensure consistent quality, improved yields and greater efficiency while meeting food safety and sustainability requirements.
