Mount Zero Organic Kalamata olives are medium/large in size. They have a firm flesh, complex olive flavour and finish with a delicious bitterness. Kalamata olives are the classic table olive variety and are also fantastic in salads. These olives are hand picked and naturally brine cured, which provides for the variation in colour and a flavour that can only come from time consuming natural fermentation.  

Silver Medal, Australian International Olive Awards

The Australian International Olive Awards (AIOA) is one of the most comprehensive olive oil and table olive competitions in the world. Its aim is to professionally judge extra virgin olive oil, flavoured olive oils and table olives from around the globe, uncover those with the highest quality and flavour and then award them medals and trophies in recognition of excellence.

Our flagship Organic Kalamata Olives were a hit with the AIOA judges, with them awarding us with a Silver Medal. Here's what the judges had to say about them:

"Very intense olive aroma - fragrant and wonderful. Great flavour. Balanced acid, bitterness, salt, and olive flavour. Pleasant lingering flavours on the palate."

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.