Olives are a member of the fruit family.

Olives grow on trees and may have first been cultivated over 5,000 years ago in Syria and Crete.

In the 1700s, Franciscan monks brought olives to Mexico and then into California by way of the missions. The first cuttings were planted in 1769 at the San Diego Mission.

Commercial cultivation of California olives began in the late 1800s

Today, anywhere from 80,000 to 160,000 tons of olives are produced in California each year

California Ripe Olives grow in a variety of sizes: small, medium, large, extra large, jumbo, colossal and super colossal.

70 to 80 percent of all ripe olives are grown in California's approximately 35,000 acres.

Olive trees tend to alternate their yields, producing large crops one year and smaller crops the next.

Olive trees bloom each year in May and by mid-September the olives are ready to be picked.

Olives that are delivered to the canneries are picked when they are still green and then become Ripe Olives.

Olives, as they come from the tree, are too bitter to eat so they are cured.

Black ripe olives are oxidized during processing; they are never dyed.

Four main varieties of olives are grown in California:

Mission - originally cultivated by the Franciscan missions.
Manzanillo - the most prevalent.
Sevillano - the larger size.
Ascolano - the larger size.