The manufacturing process

OIL SELECTION

Different olive cultivars (or varieties), production zones, degree of ripeness and fruit health produce very different oils. Extraction technology (olive presses), time frames and storage methods also impact first the olives and then the oils.

Each oil is unique, and Zefferino Monini’s task is selecting the best oils. Those which are elegant, lively and flawless to taste. Only those getting top marks move on to the lab for quality and authenticity tests.

QUALITY TESTING

We have 200 square metres of testing labs with high-tech equipment of such sensitivity they can detect a single gram of contaminants in a million litres of oil.

Every year we perform approximately 18,000 tests and monitor products across their whole life cycle, checking around 80,000 parameters.

CHEMICAL TESTING

More than twenty different chemical tests allow us to monitor oil quality and its purity from pesticides, mineral oils, environmental contaminants and solvents.

ORGANOLEPTIC TESTING

Zefferino Monini co-ordinates a team of professionals who assess flavour and palate sensation, absence of defects but also the virtues of a fine extra virgin olive oil.

Tasting assesses the complexity and elegance of an oil’s aromas and flavours, being cut grass, fresh or dried almond, green tomato and artichoke or more flowery aromas. At the same time, the intensity and length of tasting sensations, such as notes of bitterness and spiciness and fruit-based flavours are also tested.

CONSTANT COMMITMENT

Tests are done on Monini olive oils during their whole shelf-life period. We further scrutinise our oils by repurchasing some from retail outlets, ensuring our consumers are receiving quality products.

We do more than 10,000 organoleptic tests per year, a third of which are done personally by Zefferino Monini.

PANEL TESTS

Olive oil panel testing is an official method in which at least eight trained testers assess the intensity (mild, medium, intense) of certain oil virtues such as fruitiness, bitterness and spiciness as well as any defects it may have.

Oils can be classified as extra virgin solely and exclusively if they are 100% defect free.

A treasure to be safeguarded

RAW MATERIALS DELIVERY AND STORAGE

More than 1000 different lots of olive oil are delivered to the plant every year and it is only after the various checks have been completed that the oil is deposited in the storage tanks.

Oils with different sensory characteristics and origins are stored separately.

It is just before packaging that the various oils with their different aromas and flavours are combined according to recipes or blends decided by Zefferino Monini. This stage is for purposes of recreating the sensory profile and quality standards set down for each extra-virgin olive oil.

MOVING AND BLENDING

As any transfers or combining of oils from one tank to another are recorded, our IT system keeps track of the analytical values of each oil in each tank and updates them accordingly.

The 500 plus blends we make up every year are then analysed once again before packaging, and all their analytical values are compared with average theoretical values supplied by the IT system.

During the packaging phase a further 1500 tests per year are done to ensure all manufacturing phases from blending to filtering are performed correctly.

WAREHOUSE AND STORAGE TANKS

We have approximately 170 stainless steel storage tanks with capacities varying from 3 to 210 tonnes, whose use varies according to the type of oil stored in them.

Tanks are supplied with an inertisation system with nitrogen gas, which prevents oil coming into contact with oxygen, therefore maximising preservation. Level sensors measure the quantity of oil present in every tank and the exact available space. Some of the tanks used for our top products are temperature controlled to 12-18°C.

Computers in the various spaces of the tank rooms and testing labs monitor the quantity of oil in each tank and follow transfers from one tank to another during the blending phase, stage by stage.

Any oil transfers from one tank to another are recorded and an IT system linked to each tank records all the analytical parameters detected at the lab for each single tank.

Guaranteed freshness

Immediately before packaging, all Monini oils are filtered and clarified. These processes in no way alter the nutritional properties and quality of the oil but improve product conservation significantly by eliminating solid particles and residual vegetable water droplets from the oil.

FILTERING

Oils are filtered with filter sheets complete with a layer of diatom (algae) flour on the surface, a natural, totally inert substance used for filtering wine, fruit juices and other drinks. After passing through this layer of flour, the oils have been filtered, meaning they are now free of any droplets of vegetable water and olive fragments, which together make them, look cloudy.

CLARIFYING

Immediately after the filtering process, the oil is subjected to clarifying. This is done with a filter which uses sheets of cellulose paper, simple absorbent paper a few millimetres thick.

After clarifying, the oil is translucent and water-free, ready for bottling and capable of conserving its sensory profile and precious antioxidant properties for longer.

The bottling phases

The Spoleto Monini plant has ten bottling lines and every day an average of 100,000 litres of oil is bottled with peaks reaching 280,000 litres at maximum capacity.

CONTAINER CHECKS

Clean, checked and protected. Even if they are new, all bottles are blown with compressed air and then electronically inspected. Those bottles showing defects such as bubbles, cracks and chips are discarded (recycled).

FILLING CAROUSEL

Every oil in the Monini family arrives to the bottling belt via special pipes which guarantee individual product specification for all bottles.

The largest scale filling belts weigh each bottle before and after filling, checking oil quantities in each single bottle.

FINAL CHECKS

We position a camera at the end of the bottle capping process to scrutinise the oil level in each bottle. A light signal checks the presence of the production lot on each bottle allowing for total product traceability.

EXPIRY DATE

Olive oil expiry dates are actually ‘preferred use by dates’. These are fixed by each producer individually on the basis of reasonable time frames within which the oil’s characteristics remain ‘acceptable’, usually 18 months from the packaging date.

At Monini, however, our standards are especially stringent, and we prefer consumers to use our products as fresh as possible. The use before date we apply is 12 months from the packaging date because, as the saying here goes “old wine, new oil”!zionamento perché… vino vecchio e… olio nuovo, dicono da noi!

SECONDARY PACKAGING

To protect oil from light, our bottles are sealed with Monini branded opaque wrapping film. Those sent overseas are packaged in customised cartons where they are completely shut off from any light.

READY FOR DEPARTURE

Cases of our various oils are then assembled into pallets and piled up using robotic shuttles in the warehouse. Our final products are then consigned according to the order delivery schedule.

The Unmistakable Taste of Italy

Discover all our products