One of the first mainland areas for growing olive trees was Messenia, home of the famous city of Kalamata and its beloved Kalamata olives. Featuring arguably the best and highest quality olives in the world, Messenia is one of the most well-known olive production areas of Greece. The mild Mediterranean climate with long periods of sunshine is ideal for agriculture, especially olive growing. Most importantly, the best olive oil is freshly made, no matter what the origin. The ultimate quality of extra virgin olive oil starts the moment the olive is picked from the tree. Harvesting by hand so to not injure the olive fruit produces higher quality oil than the olives that are mechanically whipped off the branches, which causes injury to the olive and introduces contaminants such as plastic, if the whips are made of such materials.