Kiler Ridge Olive Farm in Paso Robles is turning California Grown olives into exceptional extra virgin olive oil while helping a growing community of local producers to cultivate their own success.

Making a great bottle of olive oil takes more than a few olives and a little pressure. It takes years of patience, meticulous timing, specialized equipment, and, during harvest season, a willingness to work around the clock.

Just ask Mary Sullivan, director of operations at Kiler Ridge Olive Farm in Paso Robles.

“I think the main thing that people are so surprised about is the amount of effort that it takes to get from the tree to a bottle of oil that is being sold to a consumer,” Sullivan explains. “People are absolutely stunned by that.”

At Kiler Ridge, that story begins among rows of olive trees in the rolling hills of California’s Central Coast. It ends with bottles of premium extra virgin olive oil destined for kitchens and tables. But the farm’s impact extends far beyond its own groves. Through education, community partnerships, and a bustling olive mill, Kiler Ridge is helping other California growers bring their harvests to life.

A New Chapter in California Agriculture

Kiler Ridge Olive Farm began with a bicycle trip through Tuscany and a shared love of exceptional olive oil. While vacationing in Italy, Audrey Burnam and Gregg Bone discovered the intensely flavorful, grassy olive oils of the region. They wondered why they couldn’t produce something similar back home in California. 

Olives, however, aren’t a crop for the impatient. It can take five to seven years before newly planted trees produce a meaningful harvest. It’s decades before they reach full maturity.

Kiler Ridge’s first harvest came around 2009, and its processing facility was completed in 2011, opening the door to commercial retail and online sales.

Today, the farm produces its own extra virgin olive oil while operating a custom milling facility that serves approximately 170 other olive growers. It’s a business built as much on relationships and shared knowledge as it is on agriculture.

What Makes Olive Oil Extra Virgin?

Not all olive oils are created equal, and at Kiler Ridge, quality is the foundation of everything produced in the mill.

Extra virgin olive oil represents the highest grade of olive oil, produced through mechanical methods without chemical refining and required to meet specific quality standards. 

At Kiler Ridge, the goal is to process freshly harvested olives as quickly as possible, ideally within 24 hours, using careful temperature control to preserve the fruit’s flavor and character. Timing is critical because olives begin to deteriorate almost immediately after harvest.

Sullivan explains that freshly picked olives can begin generating heat as they sit in large harvest bins, a sign of the biological processes that can compromise oil quality.

That’s why harvest and processing schedules are closely coordinated to move fruit from grove to mill as efficiently as possible. But even before the olives reach the processing facility,  decisions in the orchard help determine the finished oil’s flavor.

Some olives are harvested when they’re still partially green, contributing bitterness and more assertive flavors. Others are left on the trees longer to develop a softer, more buttery character. Kiler Ridge’s Tuscan-style field blend, for example, combines four olive varieties harvested at different stages of ripeness to achieve a particular flavor profile. Other varieties are allowed to mature longer on the tree for a more delicate result.

Like wine, olive oil reflects the fruit, growing conditions, harvest decisions, and craftsmanship behind each bottle.

A Mill That Brings Growers Together

While Kiler Ridge produces its own oils, one of its most important roles is helping other olive growers transform their harvests into finished products. The farm’s custom milling facility works with everyone from established commercial producers to homeowners with just a handful of olive trees.

“We deal with folks that have just a few trees in the yard,” Sullivan explains.

Growers can bring their harvested olives to the facility, where they’re processed into extra virgin olive oil. For those who need additional assistance, Kiler Ridge also offers bottling and labeling services. The goal is to make the process accessible, whether someone is launching an olive oil business or simply hoping to enjoy oil made from trees in their own backyard.

One of the farm’s most distinctive offerings is its Community Crush program, held several times during the harvest season. Participants bring olives from their own trees, which are combined into a single batch for processing. The finished oil is then divided among participants according to the weight of fruit they contributed.

The result is something uniquely local: olive oil made from the combined harvests of neighbors throughout the community.

But the program serves another purpose, too. By encouraging homeowners to harvest their olives rather than leave fruit hanging on the trees, it helps reduce potential breeding grounds for the olive fruit fly, a serious agricultural pest.

Growing Knowledge Alongside Olives

Education plays a central role in Kiler Ridge’s work.

With customers ranging from first-time growers to experienced orchard owners, the farm offers resources designed to help people produce healthier trees and better olives.

Throughout the year, Kiler Ridge hosts orchard and milling tours, as well as hands-on workshops covering pruning, fruit readiness, and olive fruit fly management. These programs help growers understand everything from when to harvest to how different growing conditions influence oil quality.

Even pest management requires a thoughtful approach. Kiler Ridge monitors weather conditions and uses targeted control methods to help manage olive fruit flies while avoiding unnecessary applications.Sullivan explains that understanding the insects’ life cycles, temperature sensitivity, and seasonal behavior is part of responsible orchard management.

The objective isn’t simply to protect one grove. It’s to help neighboring growers protect theirs, too.

And as more people become interested in growing their own food and understanding where their ingredients come from, Sullivan has noticed growing enthusiasm for the farm’s educational experiences. She says participation in Kiler Ridge’s tours has doubled or even tripled during her years with the company. For visitors, seeing how olive oil is actually made can be eye-opening.

When Harvest Takes Over

For all the careful planning that goes into producing premium olive oil, harvest season has a way of making its own rules.

At Kiler Ridge, the busiest stretch typically falls in November, when olives throughout the region begin reaching peak ripeness.

The challenge? Everyone’s fruit needs to be processed at nearly the same time. Once harvested, olives can’t simply sit around waiting for a convenient opening on the production schedule.

“We’re at the mercy of harvest,” Sullivan says. “And we’re at the mercy of the weather, too.”

Some days bring more fruit than expected. A grower anticipating 10 tons might arrive with 20. Rain in the forecast can send multiple growers rushing to harvest before the weather changes. During these stretches, the Kiler Ridge team works through the night to keep the mill running and the olives moving.

Sullivan recalls one shift lasting 21 and a half hours. It takes stamina, flexibility, and a dedicated crew to navigate the demands of harvest. “You have to have a passion for it or else it’s really, really hard work,” she says.

That commitment continues after the oil is extracted. Kiler Ridge hand-bottles and hand-labels its own oils, adding another layer of care to the finished product.

A Growing Appreciation for California Olive Oil

As interest in agritourism and locally produced food continues to grow, Kiler Ridge offers visitors a chance to see firsthand how much work goes into an ingredient many of us use every day.

From tending trees and managing pests to hand-harvesting fruit and working through long nights at the mill, every bottle represents an extraordinary investment of time, knowledge, and care.

And with more landowners in the region exploring olive cultivation, Sullivan is optimistic about the opportunities ahead. After all, olive trees may take years to establish, but once mature, they can remain productive for centuries. That longevity offers a fitting perspective on the work being done at Kiler Ridge today.

By helping growers develop their orchards, sharing agricultural knowledge, and transforming freshly harvested olives into premium oil, Kiler Ridge is cultivating something that extends well beyond its own farm.

It’s helping build a lasting future for California olive oil, one harvest and one bottle at a time.

Article written by Alison Needham (@atable_defloured), images and video by James Collier, Paprika Studios.