Not everybody is lucky enough to have grown up with the simple and logical metric system. Yes, this is written by a French person, who, after more than 40 years in the U.S., has not yet adapted to American measurements! The numbers below will hopefully help you navigate the often confusing jargon of the olive oil business.

WEIGHT

1 Short Ton = 2,000 Lbs

(when people in the olive business in the U.S. speak about “tons”, they mean short tons.)

1 Metric Ton = 2,205 Lbs

1 Lb = 0.45 Kg

1 Kg = 2.20 Lbs

1 Gallon of Olive Oil weighs 7.6 Lbs or 3.45 Kg on average (depending on temperature).

VOLUME

In the U.S., professionals in the olive oil business often refer to bottle size the same way the Europeans do, using metric numbers, with the exception of gallons. For instance, a producer may talk about gallon bottles and 375ml bottles in the same sentence.

Basic Conversions

1 U.S. Gallon = 3.785 Liters = 128 Fl. Oz.

1 Liter = 1,000 ml = 33.8 Fl. Oz.

The most common sizes for olive oil bottles are:

200 ml = 0.2 Liters = 6.8 Fl. Oz.

375 ml = 0.375 Liters = 12.7 Fl. Oz.

500 ml = 0.5 Liters = 16.9 Fl. Oz.

750 ml = 0.750 Liters = 25.4 Fl. Oz.

Number of Bottles per Gallon

One gallon of olive oil will give you:

3.8 x 1 Liter/33.8 Fl. Oz. bottles

5 x 750 ml/25.4 Fl. Oz. bottles

7.6 x 500 ml/16.9 Fl. Oz. bottles

10.0 x 375ml/12.7 Fl. Oz. bottles (almost exactly)

15.14 x 250ml/8.5 Fl. Oz. bottles

18.9 x 200ml/6.8 Fl. Oz. bottles (almost 19)

OLIVE OIL YIELD

The olive oil yield refers to the volume of oil per weight of olives. In the U.S. it is generally expressed either in Gallons / Ton (Volume of Oil in Gallons per Weight of Olives in Short Tons) or in % (Weight of Oil in Lbs divided by Weight of Olives in Lbs, or Weight of Oil in Kgs divided by Weight of Olives in Kgs ).

Use the following formulas to convert from one to the other:

Yield in % = Number of Gallons * 7.6 / 20

Yield in Gallons/Ton = Yield in % * 20 / 7.6

For example, 10 Gallons / Ton = 3.8%. A 10% yield is equivalent to 26 Gallons / Ton.

LENGTH

1 Mile = 1.61 Km

1 Km = 0.62 Miles

1 Meter = 3.28 Feet

1 Foot = 0.35 meters

1 Inch = 25.4mm = 2.54cm = 0.0254 meters

AREA

1 Acre = 0.40 Hectares

1 Hectare = 2.47 Acres

TEMPERATURE

The formulas to convert Fahrenheit degrees into Celsius degrees and vice-versa are:

Temperature in ºF = (Temperature in ºC / 5 * 9) + 32

Temperature in ºC = (Temperature in ºF – 32) / 9 * 5

For instance 27 ºC = 80.6 ºF (temperature used in definition of extra virgin olive oil).