The Story Behind Olivar House

We didn’t set out to build a brand.
We were just looking for a break.

My wife and I had taken off to South Africa. Sun. Space. A bit of silence after years of noise and busyness.

We were riding through the Swartberg Mountains... just two motorbikes. No agenda. No business plan. No pitch deck. Just good company, long lunches, a few too many wines... and the feeling that we could finally breathe again.

Then one afternoon, someone handed us a spoon.

It held this pale green liquid.
Thick. Slightly golden.
“Try this,” they said.

So we did.

And honestly? The world cracked open.

It was sharp. Peppery. Alive.
Like wild herbs and sunshine... but all at once.
We just looked at each other, like… wait, this is olive oil?

So I asked the obvious question:
“Where can we buy this in Europe?”

They smiled politely:
“You can’t yet.”

Turns out, this was De Rustica, a family-run olive estate tucked away in the mountains. Winning global awards, year after year. But practically unknown outside South Africa.

When we got home, I told my neighbour Le Roux, who happens to be South African, about the oil.

He smiled too.
“I know,” he said.
It’s my father-in-law’s farm.

That’s when the idea clicked.

We could bring this to Europe — together.

So we teamed up.

A Dutch guy with a background in sales. A South African with deep roots in the land and the people behind the oil. Neighbours in the Netherlands. Partners in something new.

Of course, the doubt came right after.
We had no bottling line. No importer deal. No roadmap.
Just a gut feeling… and that taste we couldn’t forget.

We almost let it go.
But something about those olive trees, and that moment, just stuck.

That trip, which started as a getaway, became something else.
A mission.
A new chapter.

And that’s how Olivar House was born.

Not just a brand, but a home.
A home for real extra virgin olive oil.

The kind that chefs talk about quietly… and health lovers chase across borders.
We now work with De Rustica and Willow Creek, two of the most visionary olive oil producers in South Africa.

They don’t just grow olives.
They regenerate land. They support communities.
And they take home medals from Madrid, Tokyo and New York like it’s nothing.

At Olivar House, we don’t do mass-market.
We don’t cut corners.
And we definitely don’t blend our oil with “just a little something else.”

We bring in real extra virgin olive oil, fresh, honest, full of life
from the edge of Africa straight to your kitchen.

Because some of the best stories?
They don’t start in boardrooms.

They start with a spoon.
A spark.
And a taste that changes everything.