Over the past few months, we have spent a lot of time talking with olive oil producers to really understand what they are facing. Many shared the same concerns: how to improve their production processes, how to better assess the quality of their olives and how to make sure farmers are fairly rewarded for the care and effort they put into growing top-quality crops.
The fact is the olive industry is under a lot of pressure. Sustainability requirements are getting tougher, customers are more demanding and unpredictable climate conditions are making everything more challenging. With so many moving parts, producers are looking for tools that can help simplify things, especially when it comes to production and quality control.
Of course, NIR technology is not new to this industry, it’s been used for years. But what is different now is the need for faster, more flexible and more affordable solutions that can keep up with the pace of change.
That’s where we come in. At NIRLAB, our goal is to make advanced technology practical and accessible, something producers can actually use every day to make better decisions and run a more efficient operation. And most importantly, something that supports the people at the heart of the industry.
The Olive Industry’s Modern Challenges
Can you imagine, the olive can easily be considered part of European history and culture as it has been cultivated as a crop since the 4th millennium BC. The harvesting of olives is purely manual labor by many small individual farms and an off-season industry between late August to early February. By this time, the olives are ripe and can be utilized differently depending on how ripe they are.
Producers face complex quality decisions that affect harvest timing, oil extraction with machinery adjustments in malaxation or decanting process and final product classification. And current methods are fine, but they don’t help the producers to scale or to optimize their production to gain higher revenue. And that is one of the reasons why the industry needs a smarter solutions, solutions that bridge the gap between high customers’ demands and hard day-to-day at the farm.
Real-Time Insights from Grove to Bottle
What is interesting as olives mature, their chemical composition shifts fundamentally, impacting the quality and market value of the resulting oil. For example, dark mature olives contain more oil but often contain higher free fatty acid levels and fewer polyphenol concentrations, which are precious.
On the other hand, green immature olives will have less oil but better polyphenol profiles and lower acidity, necessary in producing high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Since polyphenol content is directly associated with antioxidant activity and health value, highest-quality oils can fetch 10–20 times the average price in the market. And that’s where you want to have a tool to do the quick measurements on the spot.
How can the NIRLAB Solution help the industry?
NIRLAB Solution allows farmers to monitor key parameters such as oil and water content, polyphenols and free fatty acids on the olives on the trees or in the olive paste and residues. It’s practical and user-friendly solution for choosing the right harvesting time and optimizing the whole milling process, even by testing the quality of the final product, the olive oil (FFA, Peroxides, K values and more).
This information can help growers and mill operators improve at every stage of production. Whether you are in the field checking ripeness or in the mill confirming oil quality, immediate results inform better decisions.
Key features include:
• Non-destructive testing of olives, olive oil and even soil or plant tissue.
• Results in just 5 seconds for all the parameters at the same time.
• Compact and portable -ideal for use in the field or mill.
• No maintenance, no consumables and no per-test costs.
• Wireless connectivity and secure cloud-based data storage.
Our solution supports the entire olive oil production process—from grove to bottle. During harvest, it enables real-time olive analysis to determine the ideal harvest timing based on ripeness and composition. In the milling stage, it helps monitor oil and moisture content to optimize extraction efficiency and yield. Finally, for the finished product, it allows instant testing of key quality parameters such as moisture, acidity, peroxide values, and authenticity, ensuring consistent quality and traceability.
Smarter, Greener, More Profitable
Aside from accuracy, NIRLAB solution makes low-cost, sustainable agriculture possible. Reduce chemical waste, energy consumption, and operational expenses -all while improving product quality and traceability. In times where climate change affects more and more the agriculture and yield, infinite scans make it easier than ever to track and respond to change season after season.
Designed to be optimized for olives and olive oil, but applicable in a wide range of agricultural uses such as fertilizer control or watering:
• Soil Health Monitoring
• Plant Tissue Analysis
• Food Quality Control
At NIRLAB, our solutions are developed hand-in-hand with producers. We listen first, understanding what is really needed on the farm and in production and then building tools that solve those exact challenges.
From harvest timing to final quality checks, our portable NIR system delivers fast, accurate insights to where they matter most in the grove, at the mill and in the hands of those doing the work.
It’s not just technology, it’s a customer-needs first approach designed to make daily decisions easier, more efficient and more profitable.
