In the early 90s we (being Annie and Giles Henschel) embarked on a year-long adventure that would be the inspiration for Olives Et Al. Travelling on motorbikes through the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa, we fell in love with the food we ate along the way.
We couldn't gather many souvenirs, being on bikes, but we did gather recipes, hoping to recapture the essence of our experiences by recreating at home the foods we had enjoyed.
England proved disappointing, as the search for good quality, basic ingredients was fruitless. Particularly frustrating was the lack of olives. Throughout our trip we enjoyed a vast array of delicious olives, but those available at home lacked flavour, texture and aroma.
We launched Olives Et Al in 1992 to satisfy our own culinary cravings and to share quality olives with a wider audience. We began producing Marinated Olives using some of our "souvenir" recipes. Over time, the range of products has grown and now includes:
We still source all the basic ingredients personally. Our aim is to produce food which tastes and looks just the way it should without using artificial colours, flavourings or preservatives.
We begin with the finest ingredients, use original recipes (many handed down through the generations), add a bucket of passion, minimal and elegant packaging to make some of the best food you are ever likely to taste.
One thing you can be assured of is that quality and authenticity will never be compromised for the sake of production.
There's now a bunch of us Oliveers busy Oliveering away and we still love what we do... look out for a brand new Meet The Team section coming soon!
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