Olive Harvest Season in Cyprus: Picking, Olive Mills and Buying Local Oil (2026)

The olive harvest in Cyprus runs from late October to January. Most families pick onto nets by hand, with rakes or with battery-powered shakers, then take the crates to a village olive mill (ελαιοτριβείο, elaiotriveio) within a day or two. The mill either charges per kilo or keeps a share of the oil. If you have a few trees in your garden, or a neighbour who needs help, this is the season to join in.

When does the olive harvest happen in Cyprus?

It depends on altitude and variety. According to the EU-funded ARTOLIO project, the local Ladoelia (also called Kypriaki or Dopia) is picked from late October in the lowlands and about a month later in the semi-mountain villages. Koroneiki, the small Greek oil olive brought to Cyprus around 1977, is usually picked in November and December and sometimes into January. Table varieties such as Kalamon follow in November and December.

Green olives for cracking (tsakistes) come off first, while they are firm. For the most oil, growers wait until the fruit is turning purple-black.

How do people pick olives here?

Most groves are still picked by family and friends at weekends. The usual kit:

1. Nets spread under the tree, then gathered up so the olives roll into crates.
2. Hand rakes or olive combs, pulled through the branches. They're slow but gentle on the tree.
3. Battery-powered shakers (vibrating combs on a telescopic pole). They're quicker on big trees and sold at agricultural supply shops.
4. Long sticks, the old way of beating the branches. Many growers avoid this now because it damages next year's shoots.

Pick out the leaves and twigs before you go to the mill. Use plastic crates, not sacks, so the fruit can breathe. And don't leave olives sitting for days: they heat up and ferment, and that spoils the taste of the oil.

How do you take your own olives to an olive mill?

Most villages with groves have a mill within a short drive. They usually open from October or November until the crop is done, which can run into early spring. Here's how it normally works:

1. Find a mill. Ask your neighbours or the village coffee shop, or search the Cyta Yellow Pages olive mill listings for your district.
2. Phone ahead. In late November and December there can be queues, and some mills only press batches above a minimum weight or give you a time slot.
3. Agree the payment before you unload. Some mills charge a fee per kilo of olives. Others keep a share of the oil instead. Terms change from mill to mill and year to year, so ask what's included (washing, containers) and whether small lots are mixed with other people's olives.
4. Watch the weighing. Your crates are weighed, leaves are blown off and the fruit is washed.
5. Milling. Most mills now crush the olives with steel hammers or discs, mix the paste (malaxing) and separate the oil in a centrifuge. A few, like Oleastro, still use millstones. Ask for "cold extraction" if you want the gentlest process.
6. Take your oil home in clean tins or dark glass, and let it settle for a few weeks before you decant it off the sediment.

Yield depends on the variety, how ripe the fruit is and how dry the year was. In a drought year, expect much less oil per kilo. The weight slip from the mill is your best record.

How is the 2025–26 harvest looking?

Last season was poor. In November 2025, Politis reported that many growers were getting only about 20% of a normal crop, and a farmers' union official said growers had been allocated about a quarter of the irrigation water a plantation needs, enough only to keep the trees alive. Some trees dropped leaves from drought stress. International Olive Council figures put national output at only a few thousand tonnes a year, against about 7,500 tonnes a decade ago.

This autumn looks better so far. By August 2026, growers told Politis their groves were in better shape than a year earlier, though irrigation allocations were still tight. Then, between 1 and 15 October 2026, the island had 157% of a normal October's rain, and on 15 October the dams held 35.3%, against 11.6% a year before. If more rain falls before the fruit ripens, it should give the oil content a boost.

What does olive oil cost in Cyprus in 2026?

Prices have fallen from the 2024 peak but are still higher than a few years ago:

Buying straight from a grower or mill in tins is often cheaper per litre than buying bottles, but prices are set privately, so compare a few. Spain's harvest drives European prices, so this winter's prices will also depend on what happens there.

Is there PDO or PGI Cypriot olive oil?

Not at the moment. Cyprus has EU-protected foods such as halloumi, commandaria and Lountza Pitsilias, but no olive oil or table olive has a PDO or PGI label. So when you buy, check these:

• Harvest date (oil is best within about a year)
• Acidity on the label (extra virgin must be 0.8% or below)
• Producer and village (many small Cypriot estates bottle their own oil)
• Organic certificationIf that matters to you (Oleastro's oil, for example, is certified organic)

Farmers' markets are a good place to meet growers directly. See our guide to markets in Cyprus.

How do you cure olives at home?

Many Cypriot households still cure a jar or two of their own olives each year:

• Tsakistes (cracked green olives): Crack each firm green olive with a stone or mallet. Soak them in fresh water and change it daily for about a week or more, until the bitterness has gone. Then store them in salted brine and flavour them with lemon, garlic and coriander seeds when you serve them.
• Black olives: Pick fully ripe fruit and layer it with coarse salt in a basket or crate, so the bitter juices drain away over several weeks. Then rinse the olives and keep them in olive oil. Others cure them slowly in brine.

Ask an older neighbour for their family recipe. Brine strength and timing vary from village to village, and most people are delighted to show you.

Where can you see olive traditions or join a harvest?

• Oleastro Olive Park (Anogyra) has an olive museum, a playground and a working mill in season. There's a small entry fee, so check the current price before you go.
• Ktima Erotokritos (Choirokoitia) and Terra Oliva (Lefkara) both appear on the Larnaka Tourism Board's olive oil page.
• Olive festivals take place in mid-October. In 2026, Paramali (Limassol) held its Ancient Olive Trees Festival and Nikitari (Nicosia) its Olive & Traditional Products Festival, both on 11 October. Analyontas held an olive tree festival in October 2025. Check our events calendar and festivals by month for next year's dates.
• Agrotourism stays in hill villages sometimes let guests help with picking. See our agrotourism guide.

Can you burn olive prunings after the harvest?

Pruning usually follows the harvest, in winter. Be careful about fires: lighting a fire inside a state forest, or within 2 km of its edge, without a permit is an offence under the Forests Law. Since a 2025 amendment, causing a fire there can mean up to 12 years in prison or a fine of up to €100,000. If your grove is near a forest, contact the local Forest Station of the Forestry Department before burning anything. Never burn on windy days. A safer option is to chip the prunings for mulch or take them to your municipality's green waste point. To report smoke, call 1407 or 112. Our summer survival guide covers fire safety in more detail.

What to do next

• If you have trees, check them now: Ladoelia on the coast may already be ready.
• Ask locally for the nearest mill, and confirm the payment terms and any minimum batch size by phone.
• Book a visit to Oleastro or Ktima Erotokritos to see a mill working this winter.
• Read our guide to food in Cyprus for dishes that make the most of new-season oil.