Esters produced by the catalyzed reaction of alcohols and acids or anhydrides are neutralized by treatment with an aqueous alkaline alkali metal salt solution in an amount that provides less than a stoichiometric amount of alkali metal salt in relation to the acidity of the crude ester and the amount of water present during the treatment is from 0.8 to 1.4 wt % of water based on the weight of crude ester. When using titanium as the esterification catalyst, the ester resulting from this process contains less than 0.01 ppm by weight of titanium residue, so that it is storage stable when stored in the presence of an antioxidant.