A cruel year for local crops, 2016 showed no kindness to the olive industry, with one producer having seen his harvest drop by more than four-fifths.
And while last year, the small family business was inundated with requests to press the olives of other growers, only a handful have contacted the San Niklaw Estate in Żejtun so far.
John Cauchi, whose family owns the estate, said that while last year the pressing of olive oil kept them busy for some time, in contrast, production this year had dropped across the island.
The estate’s main produce is wine, but a few years back the family started producing extra-virgin olive oil as well.
“Last year we harvested around a ton-and-a-half of olives from the grove, but this year we are hoping to at least collect 200 kilos. It’s been a tough year for olives, and so far we have only heard from a handful of growers who want their produce pressed,” added his assistant, Jesmond Psaila.
Asked whether this shortage was a result of the lack of rainfall in recent months, Mr Psaila said strong winds earlier this year had shaken the flower buds from the trees, preventing them from developing into olives.
The unprecedented dry spell of last year, meanwhile, saw the loss of more than a third of the indigenous grape vines that are used to produce local wine. Marsovin CEO Jeremy Cassar said last month the dry weather had led to the loss of 35 per cent of vines, and to a wine yield up to 25 per cent lower than last year.
The San Niklaw grove, dotted with some 500 trees, lies near a Roman heritage trail proposed by the Żejtun local council to link the remains at Tas-Silġ with the Roman settlement at the St Thomas More secondary school.
Żejtun, as its name implies, has a strong link with the production of olives, and the locality will be holding its annual Żejt iż-Żejtun festival on September 24 and 25.
A Żejt iż-Żejtun marathon will be held this Sunday along a route that passes through spots of historical interest.
The marathon is part of a European Union-funded project called Host: heritage of olive oil tree for sustainable tourism.
More information on Żejt iż-Żejtun is available here.