Italian, Greek or Spanish olive oil: what actually differs

The real difference is the cultivar, the variety of olive used, and how it is grown and picked in each country. Italy, Greece and Spain share a similar climate but different traditions: different olives, different picking times, different taste. It has little to do with the flag on the bottle.

Cultivar matters more than the country

In Spain the most common cultivar is Picual, which gives a stable oil with tomato and almond notes, often less bitter. In Greece, Koroneiki dominates: a small olive, rich in polyphenols, giving intense, grassy, sometimes very peppery oils. In Italy the cultivars change region by region: in Tuscany, for instance, Frantoiano, Moraiolo and Leccino are often picked and pressed together as a field blend.

This means a Spanish oil and an Italian oil can share the same acidity level and the same classification as extra virgin, yet taste completely different. The cultivar matters more than the country of origin.

Different harvest times, different seasons

In Spain, harvesting is often mechanised on a large scale and starts early, sometimes late September in some areas, to optimise yield from intensive groves. In Greece, picking is usually concentrated between November and January, often with riper olives. In Italy, especially in hilly areas like Tuscany, harvesting is often done by hand and spread between October and November, because the terrain does not allow the straddle harvesters used in large flat groves.

The picking date changes the taste more than the nationality does: green olives give a bitter, peppery oil; ripe olives give a rounder one, whatever the country.

Why Spain and Italy are not comparable in volume

Spain produces far higher volumes than Italy, millions of tonnes against a few hundred thousand. This comes from intensive and super-intensive groves, planted densely and harvested by machine, built for quantity. Italy, especially in hilly areas, has smaller groves with fewer trees per hectare, often still picked by hand.

This does not automatically make one oil better than the other: it reflects a different production model. A producer picking by hand on sloped land will always work on small numbers.

How to read the label to know where the oil really comes from

The word 'Italian', 'Greek' or 'Spanish' on a bottle is not enough: check where the olives were grown, picked and milled. An oil can be bottled in one country using olives from elsewhere, if the label states in small print that it is a blend of EU or non-EU oils.

Anyone who wants an oil truly from one country and one area should look for the origin of the olives on the label, not just the bottling location.

Buying Italian olive oil from outside Italy

If you live in the UK or the US and want oil made entirely from Italian olives, grown, picked and milled in a single place, check that the producer states this clearly, not just that the company is based in Italy. Our olives are grown, picked and milled in Tuscany, at Montemurlo, between Prato and Pistoia, half an hour from Florence.

Frequently asked questions

Is Italian olive oil better than Greek or Spanish?

There is no absolute 'better': it depends on the cultivar, the harvest and personal taste. A Spanish Picual oil and a Tuscan Frantoiano oil are both extra virgin, but with very different flavour profiles.

Why is Spanish olive oil cheaper than Italian?

Mainly because of volume: Spain produces far larger quantities with intensive groves and mechanised harvesting, which lowers the cost per litre. Italy, with smaller groves and often manual picking, has higher production costs for similar quality.

Is Greek olive oil more bitter than Italian?

Often yes, because Koroneiki, widely grown in Greece, is rich in polyphenols and gives intense oils. But Italy also produces very bitter, peppery oils, for example from olives picked green early in the season.

How do you know if an olive oil is really 100% Italian?

Read the whole label: it should state that the olives themselves are Italian, not just that the oil was bottled in Italy. Wording such as 'blend of oils originating in the European Union' means the oil also contains oil from other countries.

Our oil, from tree to bottle

Two 100% Italian extra virgin olive oils from Tuscany, from a single hand-picked harvest, milled the same day three minutes from the grove. Luce is green, bitter and peppery; Raccolto is round, for every day. We ship across Italy, Europe and worldwide.