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Greetings from Fat Gold!

We’re writing from the San Joaquin Valley, where the first harvest of Fat Gold’s new era is upon us.

We’ve just finished our inaugural week running Fat Gold’s new mill. The first day was messy, a bit chaotic; the second was better, though very long; and by the third, we were cruising.

It’s all a bit poetic. Here’s why:

A little over ten years ago, at the start of her milling career, Kathryn apprenticed in Australia (where the olive harvest runs May-June, rather than October-November) at a woman-owned olive mill. There, on a machine designed by Mori-Tem of Italy, she learned to make olive oil.

Kathryn loved that machine. It was small. It could be operated by one person. You could actually CLEAN it—which sounds like a no-brainer, but many other mills guard their dark crevices, so olive-y residues just build and build. Yuck!

This was Kathryn’s first experience mastering a mill.

Years passed. She made olive oil on other machines, in other places, owned by other people. And, for its six (going on seven) year history, Fat Gold has relied on those mills, and others.

Now, after so much investment and preparation, Fat Gold’s new era has commenced. Kathryn finally has her own mill (also designed by Mori-Tem!), and with it, the opportunity to experiment and refine—to NERD OUT—in ways that have not previously been possible.

A very large piece of machinery, laid out across the width of a high-ceilinged warehouse space.

It’s a bit bigger than the machine Kathryn used in Australia, though still fairly small in the context of global olive oil production. It’s newer, of course: packed with clever, useful features. A computer dashboard displays a smorgasbord of data, and nearly everything is customizable, tweakable, nerd-friendly.

And, just like the machine Kathryn remembers: you can really CLEAN it!

Here’s Kathryn in Australia, back in 2013:

Kathryn, unscrewing a nozzle on an olive oil centrifuge.

And here’s Kathryn, earlier this week:

Kathryn, leaned in close over a stout pipe, disconnecting it.

We have dubbed our mill La Bella Macchina: the beautiful machine. There’s still tons to learn, but already, we are making the best olive oil we’ve ever made.

Ahead, it’s all possibility.

We expect to be finished with our harvest in early November. Before the holidays arrive, we’ll email you again, with some fuller reflections on this banner season. For now, we are working 12-14 hour days to make your whole year’s supply of Fat Gold.

Thanks, as always, for following along,

–Robin, Kathryn, and Bryan