From late October, Italy, Spain and Greece enter the season olive oil lovers wait for all year: the mills are running, and the first oil of the harvest pours cloudy and bright green from the centrifuge. In Italy it is called «olio nuovo» or «olio novello», in Catalonia «oli nou», in France «huile nouvelle». In Switzerland it is a niche product: you will hardly find it on supermarket shelves, and specialist shops often sell out before the harvest has even started.

This is a buying guide. It explains when new harvest oil reaches Switzerland, how it differs from ordinary oil, how to tell a genuine harvest date from a marketing promise, and when the premium is worth paying. We cover early harvesting and filtration in depth in separate articles; here the focus is the purchase decision.

When new oil arrives in Switzerland

The olive harvest in the northern hemisphere runs roughly from mid-October into the winter. The Italian producer Agricola Conforti gives late October as the start and mid-November to December as the main season for «olio novello». Picking early gives a greener, more bitter oil, but less of it.

Between the mill and a Swiss kitchen come bottling, transport and customs. Two examples from the Swiss trade show the rhythm for the 2026 harvest:

  • Gustini sells the Sicilian «Frescolio» from Frantoi Cutrera, pressed from Biancolilla and Moresca olives that, according to the retailer, are already picked in September. It ships from around mid-October 2026, unfiltered, with the advice to use it up by January.
  • Olinos, a family business with its own olive grove in Cambrils near Tarragona, sells its Arbequina «oli nou» only once a year, at the start of the harvest. It is ordered through a waiting list and delivered from mid-November 2026.

Sicily is a special case because the harvest there starts particularly early. For most origins the rule is: the first real wave reaches Switzerland in November, the bigger one in December. Ticino also harvests in October and November, but in such small quantities that Ticino oil rarely leaves the region.

In practice, if you want a particular oil, reserve it in October. Many small producers bottle only a limited amount as new oil and sell the rest later, filtered.

What makes new oil different

«Novello» is not a separate product but a state: extra virgin olive oil that has only just been pressed and is usually unfiltered. That leads to four differences worth knowing before you pay.

Cloudiness and sediment

Unfiltered oil contains tiny droplets of vegetation water and particles of flesh and pit. That makes it hazy, and over time a sediment settles at the bottom of the bottle, called «morchia» in Italian. This is normal and not a defect. In a study by Ciafardini and Zullo (Foods, 2022), more than 90 percent of the suspended solids in a freshly pressed Coratina oil settled within the first three months.

Bitterness and pungency

New oil is often distinctly bitter and catches the throat. Both count as positive attributes in sensory analysis and come from polyphenols. But the bite does not last: in the same study, the perceived bitterness of the Coratina oil fell by 33 percent over three months of decanting, without the oil losing its quality grade. If you want the bold profile, open the bottle early.

Shelf life

The suspended solids carry aroma, but also water, enzymes and yeasts. That makes unfiltered oil fragile. The Italian trade portal OlivoNews advises using it within three to four months of production; Olinos gives the same window for its «oli nou». An oil from November therefore belongs on the table by February or March, not in the pantry. We summarise the research in our article on early harvest Picual.

Yield

Olives picked early give less oil per kilogram of fruit. That is the factual core of the higher price: more olives and more handwork for every litre.

How to spot a genuine harvest date

This is the biggest trap. «Novello», «olio nuovo», "new harvest" or "first pressing" are not protected categories. Agricola Conforti states explicitly that «olio novello» is not a legally recognised product category. Anyone can print the word on a bottle.

What is regulated is the harvest year. Under Article 12(4) of the Swiss Ordinance on Foodstuffs of Plant Origin (VLpH), a harvest year may only be stated if 100 percent of the contents come from that harvest. The EU, where almost all oils on Swiss shelves come from, has the same rule in Article 11 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 and specifies the format: either as a marketing year, such as "2026/2027", or as month and year, such as "November 2026". The month must be the month in which the oil was extracted from the olives. Only virgin oils may carry a harvest year.

That gives you a simple checklist for the shelf:

  1. Month and year of extraction are the strongest statement. "October 2026" or "November 2026" on a bottle you buy in December really is new oil.
  2. A marketing year such as "2026/2027" is correct but less precise: it does not tell you whether the oil was pressed in November or in February.
  3. The best-before date is not a harvest date. It is set at bottling, and the producer decides how long it is. An oil can be bottled long after the harvest and still carry a distant date.
  4. «Novello» without a harvest year is an advertising word. Ask in the shop for the pressing date, or leave the bottle on the shelf.
  5. A cloudy oil in summer should make you suspicious. Anyone selling an unfiltered "new" oil in June is selling an oil that, by the experts' recommendations, is past its best window.

In the supermarket this information is usually missing altogether. When the French-speaking Swiss consumer association FRC compared oils in 2025, it found that hardly any of the ten oils tested gave a harvest date. If you want fresh oil with a documented vintage, you will almost inevitably end up at a specialist shop or buying direct from the producer.

Is the premium worth it?

The honest answer depends on what you do with the oil.

Yes, if you use it raw and quickly. New oil is a finishing oil: on toasted bread, over pumpkin soup, beans, steamed potatoes or a salad. Agricola Conforti recommends using it raw only. If you buy a small bottle and finish it within a few weeks, you get exactly what you pay for: the most intense aroma of the year.

No, if it goes in the pan or has to last. Heat destroys the fresh aromas, and an unfiltered oil left in the cupboard until summer ends up worse than a filtered oil from the same harvest. For everyday cooking a well-rated supermarket oil is enough. The Swiss tests show that solid quality need not be expensive: in the 2025 Kassensturz and K-Tipp test, the Greek Iliada from Coop was one of the two oils rated "very good".

Our advice for the season: one bottle of new oil, 250 to 500 millilitres, for the table, plus a filtered oil for the kitchen. Large tins of unfiltered oil only make sense if you let it settle, decant the clear oil into dark bottles and use up the cloudy remainder quickly. How to keep both properly is explained in how to store olive oil. What a litre currently costs on Swiss shelves is in our overview of olive oil prices in Switzerland, and how the supermarket oils scored is in the Swiss olive oil test 2026. And whether it pays to stock up now or wait for 2027 prices is worked through in buying olive oil in bulk: now or 2027?

Frequently asked questions

When is new harvest olive oil available in Switzerland?

A few Sicilian oils ship from mid-October. Most new oils from Italy, Spain and Greece reach Swiss specialist shops from November, with the wider choice in December. Many producers sell them by pre-order only.

Is «novello» on the bottle a guarantee of fresh oil?

No. «Novello» and «olio nuovo» are not protected terms. The only reliable indication is the harvest year, which Swiss (VLpH) and EU law allow only if the entire contents come from that harvest, ideally stated as month and year of extraction.

Is the sediment at the bottom of the bottle bad?

No, it is normal in unfiltered oil. It consists of vegetation water and fruit particles. Because it can encourage off-flavours over time, an unfiltered oil should be used within three to four months.

Why is new olive oil so bitter and peppery?

Bitterness and pungency come from polyphenols, which are highest in fresh oil. They are not considered defects. They soften over time: in one study, the bitterness of a Coratina oil fell by 33 percent in three months.

Can I cook with new olive oil?

You can, but it is a waste. The fresh aromas are lost when heated. For the pan and the oven, a filtered oil is cheaper and keeps longer.

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