Our story:
In January 2026 Lara Olium was born, and it wasn’t by chance. Let me tell you where it comes from!
I live in Tarragona, but I come from an Andalusian family — oh, sorry, my name is María José!! In 2025 my life took a 180-degree turn; until then I’d never had time to stop and think about what I really wanted to do. I worked in banking for twenty-one years, and what sometimes feels like a setback can turn into an opportunity to do something you’re passionate about and carry in your heart.
My family comes from a small village in Jaén, Peal de Becerro. Do you know it? ….. Let me help you place it! It’s about 30 km from Úbeda, at the foot of the Sierra de Cazorla. Now you know!
A sea of olive trees! The province of Jaén is like that: olive trees, olive trees and more olive trees! If you don’t know it, I promise it catches your eye!
My grandparents arrived at the Cortijo de la Compañía when my mother was little, and what could my grandfather Fernando do to raise nine children? Work the land, of course!
They started out growing cereals and working olive groves. Little by little, this farming work let him buy small plots of land, on which he could only plant olive trees!
My grandfather, together with my uncles, put all their effort into making those small saplings grow into olives that could improve the whole family’s wellbeing.
My uncles and my mother grew up, and as chance would have it, my father visited the Cortijo when my mother was a pretty young woman! And…. love blossomed.
My father was from the area, from a village almost at the entrance to the Sierra de Cazorla, la Iruela, but…. he had never worked the land before.
And my mother, a wonderful and enterprising person. Whatever they managed to save, they put toward buying small pieces of land.
When they passed away, I found myself with a small family olive grove I had no idea how to manage. I was lucky that my family helped me in the early years, which let me get to know that world that had always surrounded me.
Until 2026! Álex and I decided to start this new adventure. And here we are, after months of searching for packaging, designing the logo and labels, searching, making mistakes and taking risks.
With great enthusiasm and effort, we hope to share our oil with all of you!
How our AOVE (extra virgin olive oil) is made
Picual olive oil is made from the Picual olive variety, widely grown in Andalusia, especially in the province of Jaén. It’s prized for its high polyphenol content, its stability, and its intense flavour, with notes of green leaf, tomato and a slight bitterness and pungency.
1. Harvest
The process begins with picking the olives, usually between October and December, when the fruit reaches its optimal ripeness. For higher-quality oils (extra virgin), the harvest is early and is carried out using mechanical shakers that shake the tree and make the olives fall onto nets or canopies. It’s important to keep the fruit from touching the ground so it isn’t damaged or contaminated.
2. Transport and reception at the mill
The olives are quickly transported to the mill in ventilated crates or trailers. The aim is for as little time as possible to pass between the tree and the milling, to avoid fermentation. At the mill they’re weighed and sorted by variety and quality.
3. Cleaning and washing
Before extraction, the olives are cleaned to remove leaves, twigs and dust. They’re then washed with drinking water to remove any remaining soil or other impurities.
4. Milling
The clean olives go into the mill, where they’re crushed whole (flesh, skin and pit) into a smooth paste. This step breaks down the fruit’s cells and releases the tiny oil droplets.
5. Malaxation (mixing)
The paste is slowly mixed in machines called malaxers. This process lets the oil droplets merge together. The temperature is carefully controlled (usually below 27 °C) so the oil can be labelled “cold extraction” and better preserve its aromas and properties.
6. Oil separation
After mixing, the paste goes into a centrifuge that separates the oil from the water and solids (pomace). The result is a clean oil, though it may still contain small particles in suspension.
7. Settling and/or filtering
The oil is left to settle in stainless steel tanks so impurities sink to the bottom, or it’s filtered to remove any remaining water and solids. This improves its stability and shelf life.
8. Storage
The oil is kept in sealed tanks, protected from air, light and heat. Contact with oxygen is kept to a minimum to prevent oxidation.
9. Bottling
Finally, the Picual oil is bottled in dark glass bottles, tins or opaque containers that protect it from light. Each container is labelled with its category (for example, “extra virgin olive oil”), origin and best-before date.
Through this careful, controlled process, the Picual olive is transformed into a high-quality oil, intense in flavour and very stable, ideal both for using raw and for cooking.
Our world… our oil
