On a chilly December morning, olive grower José Frías Gago and a small crew of fieldworkers cautiously harvest olive groves on a treacherous incline in Jaén, Spain, taking care that the olives never touch the ground.

The harvest is then taken to a local mill, where the olives are used to produce Kirkland Signature Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This latest addition to the Kirkland Signature line of extra-virgin olive oils is the culmination of a unique collaboration involving Costco buyers with international olive oil suppliers Certified Origins and Overseas Food Trading.

But at the heart of this olive oil are growers like Frías Gago, and the beautiful groves found in the region of Andalusia where Jaén is located. Frías Gago has deep roots here. Growing up in a family of multigenerational farmers, he was taught by his father how to care for the olive groves.

Spain is known as the largest producer of olive oil, and this southern region is recognized as the centre of the country's olive oil production, yielding more than the total amount of the olive oil produced in Italy.

Costco's long-standing olive oil suppliers work with Spanish cooperatives comprised of olive oil mills and thousands of small growers, who collectively cultivate and manage the olive trees, some of which are hundreds of years old. The region's ecosystem offers the perfect conditions for growing olives. The olives from these trees are harvested to produce Kirkland Signature™ Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Costco's Kirkland Signature olive oil program has been built on quality, value and traceability, and the Spanish product is no exception, says Martin Beam, Costco corporate foods and sundries buyer. The co-ops provide traceability down to the fields. Upon arrival at the mill, each grower's crop of olives is recorded, and the oil is tracked from tank to bottle.

"Our members have a certain level of expectation when it comes to Kirkland Signature items," Beam says. "They not only want something that's high in quality at a great value, but they also want to know where that product comes from."