Olive oil export set to revive ancient trade

A long-dead, ancient trade is to be revived in the next few days when half a tonne of Maltese olive oil is exported in 1,800 bottles to a German buyer.

The oil is being exported by Sammy Cremona, who has pressed and bottled it in Wardija. It is half the total volume of oil he collected from the last pressing, which took place in October immediately after the harvest.

Mr Cremona said demand for Maltese olive oil had risen, despite the premium price, which, he said, reflected the high quality and purity.

"We have reached the stage where demand is outstripping supply, even from Maltese customers. The original export order was for 4,000 bottles, but we just did not have the oil to fulfil it.

"Last October, I pressed more than two-and-a-half tonnes of oil for people who brought along their own olives, and although I offered to buy much of it at the market price, the vast majority opted to keep the oil for their own consumption, or for family and friends."

Mr Cremona began to take an interest in olive oil some years ago, and has since made it his mission to encourage the planting of olive trees and the gathering of their fruit for oil. He invested in what is so far the island's only olive-pressing machine, and provides the service to those who bring sizeable quantities of locally grown olives.

Payment for the service is made in kind: by means of a small percentage of the volume of the oil pressed.

The hundreds of trees that are now being planted are expected to bear fruit within a few years, which means that the supply of olives for pressing would increase considerably.

"I am glad to have contributed to this revival," Mr Cremona said.

"Malta is ideal for the growing of olives, and it was ironic that the Maltese had become accustomed to buying oil of lesser quality, produced in neighbouring countries."

The last recorded mention of Malta as a thriving source of olive oil was in the days of the Roman Empire, when the islands were famed for their oil, honey, cotton, and rose petals. The practice of harvesting olives and pressing them for oil petered out over the centuries, until it finally died completely.

The trees that once covered large parts of Malta and Gozo, and which probably gave their name to localities like Zejtun, Zebbug, Birzebbuga and Bidnija may have been deliberately cut down for their wood, or to make way for crops. Though the olive tree lives for many centuries, few truly old trees survive today in Malta.

"Malta can produce some of the best olive oil in the world, so we should pull together and do it. The market is enormous," Mr Cremona said.