Black olives don’t start out black. The process that turns this fruit black was invented by Freda Ehmann in Oakland, California during the mid-1890s, and even green olives from the tree go through processes that turn their natural bitterness into the familiar cured flavors you’d find in the store.
Today, California grows 95% of the United States’ olive yields. This promotional video from California Ripe Olives shows us the “behind-the-scenes peek at the magic” of how they go from the orchard to the store shelf. See green olives bouncing on factory conveyor belts!
Related reading on Wikipedia: Olives and drupes.
Next: Cherry harvesting with a hydraulic tree shaker, this carrot peeling machine, a Rube Goldberg-style Egg Breaker machine, and Cranberries: How Does It Grow?