We Olive celebrates 15 years!

2018 marks our 15th year in business and as with any major milestone, it has us looking back at where we’ve come from, around us at what we’ve accomplished and ahead to where we want to go next. We opened our first store in Paso Robles in 2003 as a place to showcase the fantastic olive oils that were being produced locally. Our passion for bringing true, fresh extra virgin olive oil to our guests and seeing them experiencing the real thing is what drove us.

We began franchising 3 years later, opening our second location in Fresno in 2006. Over the next 5 years, we opened retail stores around California making local EVOO more accessible to the state. The truth is that many Americans were consuming olive oil, but people were getting 90% of it from Italy or Spain.¹ Our mission was to show Californians, and anyone living in the U.S., that olive oil produced right at home was better than what they could get shipped in from Europe.  The simple reason that extra virgin olive oil produced in the U.S. is superior to imported olive oil? It’s fresher. It hasn’t been sitting on a cargo ship, then in storage for weeks or months before it reaches store shelves.

A commitment to real extra virgin olive oil

Real extra virgin olive oil is a fresh product that should be consumed within 12- 18 months of harvest and that means getting it locally ensures that you are getting a fresh product. Additionally, all of the EVOO that you find at We Olive is certified by the California Olive Oil Council (COOC), which uses stricter standards than international requirements for designating an olive oil extra virgin. Our commitment to educating consumers and making the best of what our country produces accessible to everyone is what drove us, and continues to drive us, to grow.

The next chapter

In 2011, we opened our first We Olive & Wine Bar in La Jolla, California. The idea had been brewing for some time as seasonal, fresh food made with extra virgin olive oil coupled with artisan wine made in the U.S. was a natural pairing and a big part of We Olive’s culture.

Over the next few years, we continued to open We Olive & Wine Bar locations in California and finally expanded to our first out of state location in 2013 in Bee Cave, Texas. 8 more We Olive & Wine Bar locations opened around the country in the next 4 years and in 2017, we joined the Texas Association of Olive Oil supporting Texas growers and producers.

Today, We Olive has 18 locations, an online shop and a custom gift program. We continue to be an industry leader, adhering to the highest standards for extra virgin olive oil and focusing on consumer education. Our 13 wine bar locations maintain a wine program that values small producers, exciting varietals and the best the region has to offer. We look forward to serving you for another 15 years!

Sources:

¹ – https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-california-olive-oil/