Harvesting is an important factor in the quality of table olives. Olives should be harvested when the seeds are black and the flesh is purple. Olives harvested early will not produce a dark black product. Late harvested, overripe olives are easily softened and crushed in brine. Harvesting should not be done all at once, but in batches as they reach maturity.

The olives taken to the brine plant are sorted and graded. When the olives are very ripe, they are only sorted. Sorting can also take place after the olives have been sweetened. The purpose of grading is to separate out the olives with small grains, and the purpose of sorting is to separate injured, bruised, diseased and soft olives from healthy olives.

The brine, prepared as 10 baume (10% brine), is poured over the olives and the olives are left to brine. There should be no air space between the top cover and the surface of the liquid. The salt content of the brine should be checked and salt should be added if it drops. The salt content of the brine should be checked and salt added. The most suitable fermentation temperature is around 20 C (room temperature). The brine temperature should therefore be kept at this level for the first 2-3 weeks, if possible. Olives prepared in this way are ready for consumption in 6-9 months.

When the olives are ready to be eaten, they are washed and re-graded and re-sorted before being packed. The reason for this is to eliminate the problems that can occur during fermentation, such as softening, loss of colour and defects that may have been overlooked during the first selection. Once the fermentation of the olives is complete, the packaging process can begin.