OUR STORY

Taking A Leap of Faith

Some of my fondest childhood memories are the times I spent with my mom, Michelle, in the kitchen. She has always been kind, patient, and an amazing teacher with a desire for perfecting recipes! It was this creativity and shared love of food that led us down the path to Olivelle. While away at college I found a cute food boutique and bought my mom a beautiful gift basket for Christmas - it was the first time in my life I was so excited to gift her a present I knew she'd love.

My mom loved the gift- which inspired us to explore the opportunity to start our very own boutique. After graduating college in 2006, at 22 years old, I moved back to my hometown of Bozeman, MT where Michelle and I opened our flagship specialty food shop. We pooled all our financial resources and dedicated every bit of our time to making this dream a reality. I had an excitement for business operations and she had a love for good food. Together, we had a burning desire to create a wowing retail experience that was unlike anything Bozeman had seen.

A New Standard of Quality

Shortly after opening, we were unhappy with the quality of oils and vinegars we were receiving. Between our keen sense of taste and passion for good food, we could tell that other suppliers were taking lower-quality oils and trying to cover the defects with flavor. We knew to stand out we needed to offer customers a higher quality product and decided to take matters into our own hands. Michelle and I worked tirelessly to try and source high-quality oils and vinegars for infusion-visiting small family farms over in Italy to connect with the best producers. We started with a high-quality single estate extra virgin olive oil as the base- something completely unheard of at the time in the industry. They tasted amazing and we knew our customers could immediately recognize the difference in quality. 

When sourcing ingredients, we continue to work with small family farms that focus on quality over quantity. Every ingredients used in our manufacturing process must pass our extremely strict taste guidelines to ensure the finished products are something we are always proud to put the Olivelle name on. 

Inspiring Customers At Home

Customers loved our products but started coming to us unsure of how to use them. This led us to build out a small kitchen in our original retail space and offer cooking classes. Our goal wasn't to get rich off cooking classes, but instead to inspire customers on how to use the products at home. 

This need to inspire customers was also what led us to start producing recipe cards. We knew that if we showed customers how to use these products every day, it would improve their experience in-store, make cooking at home more flavorful, and we would see customers come back in more frequently to restock their products. 

Beyond Bozeman, MT

In 2011 we were approached by a couple who loved our store and wanted to start a business just like ours. This sparked our journey into wholesaling. We knew franchising wouldn't be the right model for us, instead, our goal was to pass on our retail vision to other boutique shops and equip them with the tools they needed to succeed with Olivelle. Over the years we have fine-tuned our setup and training, taking the guesswork out of the process and ensuring that every store that brings in Olivelle soon finds it becoming their #1 product line! 

Today and Into The Future

Today, Olivelle proudly manufactures over 150 products with the same unwavering commitment to quality that we had when we first started. Our products are wholesaled to more than 130 independently owned specialty retailers nationwide. We remain dedicated to these retailers by offering a highly exclusive line- unavailable on Amazon- that ensures a unique, in-store experience for their customers, one they can't find anywhere else. 

We hope that our oils, vinegars, spices, and recipes become an inspiration to you and your loved ones. Cooking should be fun, easy, and flavorful! Our purpose is to continue to craft quality ingredients that bring families together, inspire creativity and passion for good food, and create memorable moments around the table.