From Tree to Table: How to Join Italy’s Ancient Olive Harvest Ritual

Harvesting olives to make oil is an ancient Italian ritual that is increasingly under threat. Now, many believe it might just be the next frontier of Italian tourism.

Each October, after the beach umbrellas have folded and the air turns crisp, families across Italy retreat to their generational olive groves (oliveti) to participate in one of the peninsula’s most delicious autumnal traditions: the olive harvest (la raccolta delle olive). It’s a timeless ritual, one with no heavy machinery and very few chemicals, resulting in artisanal extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) that is then drizzled over everything from soups to salads in the coming year.

An Italian Autumnal Rite

Between mid-October and early December, from Sicily to Lake Garda, the raccolta pervades daily life. Weekends are spent harvesting and transporting olives to the local olive mill (frantoio), where they’ll be pressed into oil. The work is strenuous—squinting up into branches, scrubbing olive pulp from nails—but it is also exhilarating, and it might just be the reason it’s becoming the new frontier of Italian tourism.

The Rise of Oleoturismo

In the last few years, oleoturismo (olive oil tourism) has been on the rise in Italy. A growing number of olive farmers are opening up agritourisms or offering experiences where guests can stroll through the groves and even participate in the harvest itself. What is mere housekeeping for local families is becoming a coveted experience for international travellers.

As Christian Reggioli of Bio Agriturismo Reggioli in Tuscany puts it: “For me, it’s about a return to the land.” Farms like his allow visitors to join families for breakfast, then form groups to spread nets and harvest by hand. The day often concludes with tastings, where the bold, peppery, or floral flavour of freshly pressed EVOO is discovered. “Real oil is different every time,” says Reggioli.

Learning to recognize quality EVOO is also key. As Lucia Leone, oil sommelier at Masseria il Frantoio in Puglia, stresses: “Real EVOO is fruity, fresh, bitter and spicy. If you don’t taste those notes of tomato leaf, fresh-cut herbs or artichokes, the oil isn’t extra virgin.”

Saving an Endangered Tradition

While la raccolta is part of everyday life in rural Italy, the tradition is endangered. As Italians migrate to larger cities for economic opportunities, hundreds of thousands of family groves have been abandoned. Industrialized mass olive oil production reigns: three in four bottles of olive oils purchased in Italy now come from overseas.

But, as so often in Italy, tourism could be the answer. EVOO is emerging as a strategic part of Italy’s “Made in Italy” identity. The Italian government included the olive oil tourism sector in the national budget in 2020, leading to a 37.1% boom in food and wine tourism.

Even “adopt an olive tree” programmes are becoming popular, allowing sponsors to receive shipments of oil from a personal plant they sponsor for one or more years. This programme is proving vital in saving and maintaining abandoned groves.

Ultimately, the harvest is work. But as one tourist noted, “The beauty of it is that you’re able to step into somebody else’s life even if it’s just for a moment.” It is a labour of love for the golden, neon-green reward of the oil—”Without love, nothing can grow.”

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