Lincolnshire farm completes first commercial olive grove harvest
11th December 2025
A Lincolnshire farm has completed the first harvest from what is believed to be the most northerly commercial olive grove in the world.
The English Olive Co., based near Spalding in Lincolnshire, has harvested its first olives from a 10-hectare grove planted in 2024 and is now processing them through the UK’s first on-farm olive press and bottling line.
This first harvest puts the business on track to produce the first commercially pressed English olive oil.
The olives were hand-picked by family and friends and taken to the on-farm press within hours, ensuring they were processed quickly to preserve the highest oil quality.
Farmer David Hoyles said: “We were pleased to have our first, albeit small, harvest, but it does show that olive trees can flower, fruit and mature on a commercial and field scale in the UK.
“Unfortunately, the recent frosts and strong winds and rain knocked off some of the olives, and the size of the fruit is smaller than in the traditional growing areas of the Mediterranean, but the taste profiles of this 2025 crop are fantastic – grassy, fresh, and piney, with a very good peppery kick at your throat due to fantastic polyphenol levels.”
Mr Hoyles said that the supply of the English olive oil will be very limited in this first year.
“As the trees grow and increase in maturity each year, we hope olive numbers, and hence oil volumes, will also increase year on year.
“Following the mild but wet and cloudy disappointing weather we all experienced in 2024, 2025 has been good for the olives. They flowered in July, and the fruit grew well over the summer.”
The Lincolnshire farmer shared that he was unsure how ripe olives would get in the UK climate, but with summer conditions stretching out into October, the olives have turned a good blushed green colour, and this has helped the flavour profiles.
“It’s a shame that the frosts and wind have impacted yield, but we are still learning and will continue to give the trees our best efforts going forward,” he continued.
Adapting to a changing climate
Ms Hoyles explained that the decision to plant olives came from a need to future-proof the family farm against shifting weather patterns and rising volatility in traditional crop markets.
“We wanted long-term security in food production. Some of our existing crops were struggling with the hotter, drier conditions, so we looked for alternatives more suited to a warming climate.
“Admittedly, we’ve pushed this to the extreme, but olives fit that brief. They’re resilient, they thrive in heat, and they allow us to diversify with a crop we can process and market ourselves,” the farmer said.
The move also gives the family greater control over pricing, reducing exposure to commodity volatility, while providing a succession opportunity, with multiple generations involved in the project, from orchard management to pressing, branding and marketing.
Challenging convention with forward-thinking farming
The English Olive Co. forms part of a 250-year farming legacy in the Fens, where the wider business produces wheat, potatoes, peas, mustard and sugar beet on reclaimed silt soil, supported by modern digital farming methods, efficient water management and renewable energy.
Each year the farm grows 2,500t of winter wheat, or the equivalent of 4.25m loaves of bread; 4,500 tonnes of potatoes, or 11m portions of fish and chip shop chips; 4,000 tonnes of sugar beet, or 700,000 1kg bags of Silver Spoon sugar; 500 tonnes of fresh peas, or 350,000 1kg bags of frozen peas; and 150 tonnes of mustard, or 5m 170g mustard pots.
The farm has invested in renewables, with 100kW wind turbine and 200kW of solar, and sustainable water management practices, with rainwater roof harvesting and three reservoirs, 58 hectares of pollen and nectar flower areas, and 6.5 hectares of wild bird seed cover.
The olives are grown using low-input farming practices, including water-efficient drip fertigation and no use of insecticides or fungicides.
As the olive grove matures, production is expected to scale, with the aim of expanding English-grown olive products to meet rising consumer demand for sustainable, local food.
“When the volume of olives increases, we hope to invest in a self-propelled harvester in place of hand harvesting,” Mr Hoyles concluded.
First English olive oil expected soon
With the December 2025 harvest now complete, The English Olive Co. has begun cold pressing. A limited volume of English olive oil will be available once extraction is complete, marking a historic moment for British agriculture.
The English Olive Co. will offer limited batches of olive oil for purchase exclusively through its online shop. For more information, visit www.englisholive.co.uk.
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