Castelvetrano Olives hail from the beautiful island of Sicily. Their color is strikingly green and their texture is meaty and crispy, yet deliciously juicy. Perfect in every sort of dish or even beverage.

Castelvetrano olives, also known as Nocellara del Belice or Belice valley olives, are a variety of olives which is grown exclusively in the Belice Valley, in the West of Sicily, in the surrounding of Castelvetrano. Therefore, these Italian olives have been recognized as a DOP product.
The production area of Castelvetrano olives is relatively small and what’s more, the olive trees bear fruits only in their fifth year. Thus, the production of these olives actually limited and it is not always easy to find them.
Unlike other types of Italian olives, Castelvetrano olives are not really cured. After the harvest, they are washed in lye for several hours to lose their bitter taste. Then, they are repeatedly washed with normal water to remove the lye.

Once washed away all the traces of lye, the olives are packed in light brine or refrigerated. This production method also preserves the impressing color of these green olives that, if cured, assume a brown-greenish color.

The method of processing of the Castelvetrano olives makes them oxidize quickly, even more if they are removed from the brine in the can. That is why it is not actually easy to find high-quality Castelvetrano olives in the supermarkets.