Despite the abundance of olive groves now scattered across the world, in both the northern and southern hemisphere, most olive oil continues to come from the Mediterranean. The intricate nature of the olive tree is evident in the many varieties of olives that exist. While colour, size and composition may all point towards a certain variety, the maturity of the olive plays an important role as it affects both the taste and the oil produced. Additionally, some olives are suitable only as table olives and others are suitable only to produce oil.