Our Manzanilla olives are grown in Kialla, in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria. The name ‘Manzanilla,’ meaning "small apple" in Spanish, perfectly describes the round shape of this variety. These extremely fleshy olives have a relatively small pip, making them an ideal table olive. However, they are also simple to pit and add to pizzas, pasta, and salads. Originally hailing from the Seville area of Southern Spain, Manzanilla olives also have a long history in Spanish culture and are used in a variety of Andalusian dishes, including the famous tapa Gazpacho.

A note about our 2kg olive jars

Whilst all oil sold by Mount Zero is 100% cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, we use a small amount of non-GMO canola oil at the top of our 2kg olive jars. 

We do this for a few reasons: 

1: Our olives are naturally fermented, and as such, they arrive to you as a biologically active product similar to probiotic yoghurt. A layer of oil on top of our packaged olives provides a protective barrier against oxygen, which inhibits the growth of natural yeast flora after opening.

2: Canola oil is far less reactive than extra virgin olive oil, and therefore won't turn rancid with repeated/prolonged exposure to oxygen. This helps to keep your olives tasting fresh!

3: Due to all the wonderfully healthy compounds present in extra virgin olive oil, it tends to solidify when kept at fridge temperature. As canola oil is a more refined cooking oil, it remains a liquid at fridge temperature, making it much easier to access your delicious olives at snack time.

If you are concerned with the use of seed oils in these products, we'd like to point you to our 300g olive jars, which are always produced without a protective layer of canola oil as they undergo an additional pasteurisation process. We are unfortunately unable to pasteurise our larger 2kg jars, as they don't handle the heat as well and make for a very costly and slow procedure. 

Additionally, the canola oil atop our 2kg olive jars can be easily removed and replaced with a different oil of your choosing, should you wish to do so.