How long does an olive oil order take?

Last reviewed 8 August 2026.

Four to six weeks from a confirmed order to goods ready to ship. Where you land in that range depends on how much work the job needs. A repeat order in a format we already stock is at the short end. A brand-new private label with custom bottles and printed labels is at the long end.

What the four to six weeks covers

It covers everything between your confirmed order and a pallet standing ready to load. Sourcing the lot, blending and checking it against the specification, printing and applying labels, filling, capping, coding, casing, palletising, wrapping, and the paperwork that has to travel with the goods. It does not cover the sea voyage, which depends on your port.

What pushes you to six weeks

Almost always something that has to be manufactured or approved before we can fill a single bottle:

• Custom bottles or closures. Stock Dorica and Marasca glass is quick. Anything bespoke has its own lead time from the glassworks.
• Printed labels. Artwork, proof, correction, approval, print. Most delays here are approval delays, not printing delays.
• A new destination country. Labels have to satisfy the food law where the oil is sold. Nutrition panels, allergen wording, importer details and language requirements differ, and getting that wrong costs far more than a week.
• Organic paperwork. Certified organic consignments need their transaction certificate issued for that specific lot and destination.

What keeps you at four weeks

• Ordering a format we already pack: 250 ml, 500 ml, 750 ml, 1 L glass, 3 L or 5 L tins.
• Bulk in drums, 1,000 litre containers or a flexitank, where there is no labelling step at all.
• A repeat of a label we have already printed and you have already approved.
• Sending your artwork and your destination country with the first enquiry rather than after the quote.

Harvest timing is the one thing we cannot move

Olives are picked in November and December and pressed the same day they are picked. New-harvest oil ships from December. If you want the freshest possible oil on a shelf in a particular month, count backwards from that: four to six weeks of production, plus your sea freight, plus whatever your own warehouse and retailer need. Buyers who want new-harvest oil on shelf for spring usually talk to us in October.

How to make your own lead time shorter

The single biggest saving is telling us the destination country and the format in your first message. Most of the back-and-forth that adds a week is us asking questions we could have answered in the quote.

Common questions

Is the lead time different for bulk?

Bulk is usually faster because there is no label to print or approve. The minimum for bulk is one 20-foot container.

Is the lead time different for private label?

Private label is where the range matters most, because that is where the custom work lives. The minimum for private label is three pallets per SKU. See private label olive oil.

Can you hold stock for a call-off schedule?

Ask us. It depends on the format and the volume, and it is a commercial conversation rather than a standard offer.

Next

Tell us the format, the volume and the destination country and we will give you a date, not a range. Send an enquiry or write to sales@olyfo.com.

Related: payment terms · ports and shipping · formats and palletisation.