California Olive Ranch Growing Americans’ Taste for Olive Oil
By Lorrie Baumann
Silicon Valley technocrat Gregg Kelley had a nice little career going for himself in 2006. He’d taken two dot-coms public and settled into a consulting career in which he could choose the clients he wanted to advise on how to succeed the way he had. He ditched it all when the owners of California Olive Ranch came to him and said they’d learned how to make a good product and wanted his help to scale up their operation to compete in the national market. Eight years later, he has no regrets.
“It was just the right time. The owners of the company had learned what they needed to learn and were looking for a CFO [chief financial officer]. I was interested in their approach to the industry,” he said. “I really liked the people who owned the company, liked the opportunity. It checked that box for me. I took a pretty significant pay cut to join the company. It was a leap of faith. It was right place, right people, right time.”
“It’s been a great opportunity. A change of direction. I wanted to lead a life where I could look at myself in the mirror,” he adds. “There were two things I wanted to do: be a good husband and a good father and have a positive impact on the world. I get to do that now…. Those are the simple rules to live my life by.”
The officers see viagra cheapest one domestic assault after another, often with escalating violence. Financial Inadequacy Men who are under-paid best price for sildenafil and unemployed are under constant stress when it comes to stay financially stable. Drug companies have long attempted to make a drug that could rev up a woman’s libido, but there haven’t been any drugs approved for that. cialis price check out now Am I the discount viagra online only one who is absolutely appalled by the superstore Target’s use of the great Beatles’ hit entitled “Hello Goodbye” (although in the commercial center. Kelley is now California Olive Ranch’s Chief Executive Officer, and the company has been registering sales growth rates of 30 to 50 percent per year for a compound annual growth rate exceeding 45 percent over the past eight years. California Olive Ranch has become the U.S.’s largest domestic olive oil producer: in terms of consumer sales, it’s the #4 brand in the grocery channel, the #1 brand in the specialty/gourmet channel and the #3 brand in the natural channel, according to SPINS. With just under 15,000 acres planted with olive trees now, Kelley is actively looking for another 3,000 more acres to plant this year to feed rapidly growing consumer demand for extra virgin olive oils from California.
A few factors have combined to drive that growth, according to Kelley. Americans are becoming more aware of the virtues of high-quality olive oils, and improved technology has allowed California Olive Ranch to provide a better product at an accessible price point. “California has had an olive industry for hundreds of years, but it stayed small until technology got better. The ability to hit a price point that makes it accessible is what accelerates that learning curve,” Kelley said. “You break this barrier of accessibility for a larger number of people. California has made the norm become a much higher quality product. The American consumer, time and time again, has a proven preference for higher-quality products. Wine was an example of that. We’re seeing it in cheese, in chocolate…. We are participating in the same evolution.”
Kelley is determined to propel Americans along the learning curve by putting the taste of California Olive Ranch oil on as many tongues as possible. He says that letting people smell the aroma of a freshly opened bottle of good extra virgin olive oil and then letting them taste the oil and feel the warmth of it in their throats is all it takes to inspire them to want that experience again, especially if they can have it for a price premium of just a few dollars a bottle. “What makes us different is the ability to provide a much higher quality experience regularly,” he said. “The vast majority of the oil we produce would win awards around the world.”
“Great olive oils add to the experience of a good meal,” he said. “That was the ‘Aha!’ for me that was the final hook that got me involved in the industry and got me into California Olive Ranch.”
Kroger & Lucky’s Market Announce Strategic Partnership
The Kroger Co. announced a strategic partnership with Lucky’s Market, a specialty grocery store chain focused on natural, organic and locally-grown products. Kroger has made a meaningful investment in Lucky’s, which will significantly accelerate Lucky’s Market’s growth in new and existing markets. The financial terms of the transaction, which closed on April 1, were not disclosed.
This strategic partnership is designed to further enhance the best products, practices and techniques Lucky’s Market has to offer. These strengths, combined with Kroger’s scale and experience, will in turn create benefits for customers and help Lucky’s Market grow over time. This alliance also demonstrates Kroger’s deep ongoing commitment to providing customers with affordable fresh organic and natural foods as a part of its “Customer 1st” strategy. Kroger’s affiliate Main & Vine also recently launched a community-focused grocery store concept in Gig Harbor, Washington, that mixes local, specialty and everyday products, all at affordable prices.
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Founded in 2003 and based near Boulder, Colorado, Lucky’s Market and its affiliates employ more than 1,800 associates and operate 17 stores in 13 states throughout the Midwest and Southeast United States. Lucky’s “Organic for the 99%” store format emphasizes its expansive selection of natural and organic food, including fresh produce, meat and seafood, prepared foods and baked goods, as well as wine and beer and personal care goods. With stores averaging approximately 30,000 square feet, Lucky’s layout resembles an indoor farmers market, with “garage door” entrances, field bins, barrels and wooden crates. Its culinary department showcases great-tasting, restaurant-quality prepared foods made from recipes that include those developed by Chief Executive Officer and former chef Bo Sharon and his wife Trish. Through its “L” private label, Lucky’s provides a broad range of grocery items at great value that have no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, and 10 percent of profits from its private label are reinvested in the communities it serves.
Marin French Cheese Takes Best of Class Award at World Championship Cheese Contest
Marin French Cheese’s Triple Crème Brie with Black Truffles took the coveted Best of Class Award for flavored soft-ripened cheese at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Madison, Wisconsin, March 7-9, 2016.
Made with fresh cow’s milk and cream from neighboring Marin County dairies, Triple Crème Brie specked with Black Truffles lends itself to an irresistibly earthy aroma of mushrooms balanced with sweet cream, each year earning high distinctions in regional, national and international contests alike.
Other honors conferred to the Marin French team of dedicated cheesemakers during this recent competition include third place in the soft-ripened category for Petite Supreme, a high butterfat, extra-crème cheese with an aroma of sweet milk, and fourth place for Traditional Brie in the brie category.
Equally impressive, Sonoma-based sister company, Laura Chenel’s, received accolades once again this year for its creamy, fluffy-textured Original Chabis fresh goat cheese, garnering third place in the Soft Goat Milk Cheese category. The Orange Blossom Honey Log won its first award at the event, placing third in the Flavored Soft Goat Milk Cheese with Sweet Condiments category, while the Chabis Garlic took a fourth place prize in Soft Goat Milk Cheese category. Laura Chenel’s Original Buchette was recognized with a fifth place award.
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“Each year we are impressed by the increasing level of competition at this highly regarded competition,” says General Manager Philippe Chevrollier. “We are very proud of our cheesemaking teams at both Marin French and Laura Chenel’s for being such strong contenders where ingenuity, skill and know-how are key,” he adds.
The World Championship Cheese Contest, established in 1957, is organized by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. This year, the organization saw a record 2,955 entries from 23 countries and 31 states. For a full list of awards go to http://wccc.myentries.org/contest/results?event=59 .
