Between harvest and the finished food product, there is often a distinct step: olives become oil, grain becomes flour, milk becomes cheese.
This page explains which costs arise in this process and how they become visible in pricing. It expands on the price component 02 - Processing Costs.
Processing includes all services that transform a harvested raw product into another product.
It belongs neither entirely to the farm nor to packaging. In pricing, it therefore forms its own stage within processing costs.
In the TEIKEI network, processing occurs in two forms:
| Processing at Origin | Processing into a New Food Product | |
|---|---|---|
| What it involves | A raw product is prepared at its origin for further distribution | Raw products are transformed into a new food product |
| Examples | Pressing, filtering, and clarifying olives into oil | Baking bread, making cheese, pressing juice |
| Who performs it | Processing businesses such as oil mills | Further processing businesses like mills, bakeries, and dairies, see 16 - Processing |
| Status of price representation | Described for TEIKEI Olive, see example below | Not yet described, see "What Remains Open" |
The boundary is fluid. A mill or olive press can serve both functions.
Depending on the product and business, the items vary. Typical elements include:
For a new food product, additional ingredients are also included. The Charter for Processing Businesses requires that raw materials, origin, additional ingredients, and processing steps remain traceable.
Not all of the harvested quantity is retained during processing. The finished food product represents a smaller quantity than the original harvest.
The price per liter or kilogram must account for this. Otherwise, a calculation may appear arbitrary, even though it merely reflects the actual yield.
This is distinct from the simple conversion between kilograms and liters, which is not a loss and is covered on the page Density Conversion.
For TEIKEI Olive, processing is the path from the olive to the oil.
In the producers' calculations, mill costs and storage costs are part of the producer price ex-warehouse, see Price Structure Template for Olive Oil – Ex-Warehouse. In the Price Transparency for TEIKEI Olive, this step appears as "2. Processing."
| Item | Where It Is Listed |
|---|---|
| Harvest and transport from the grove to the first collection point | Harvest Costs |
| Goods receipt, sorting, filling, palletizing, and labeling | 02 - Processing Costs |
| Conversion from kilograms to liters | Density Conversion |
| Containers, reusable systems, and packaging | 03 - Sustainable Packaging |
Processing prices are coordinated in dialogue with the farms, as described on the page Processing Businesses with Responsibility and Transparency.
For this to succeed, clarity is needed on:
Without a separate representation of processing, it remains invisible:
In the TEIKEI context, processing businesses are not merely technical service providers. They share responsibility for ensuring that origin and processing remain traceable.
Quality is not only created during production but also in the decisions that follow: how a product is handled, how it is protected, and how it remains as close as possible to its best form.
One level up: 02 - Processing Costs
Author: Felix Schröder, with assistance from AI (ChatGPT)
Creation: written by Felix Schröder › formatted in Markdown by ChatGPT › published by Felix Schröder › layout adjusted by Claude
Created: 2026-03-30 · Last updated: 2026-10-11 · Questions or feedback? support@teikei.us