TRAVEL
Locally
From Blossom to Bottle Queen Creek Olive Mill creates delicious products sustainably
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BY ANNA DORL
“When you visit the Olive Mill, you come for an experience. Come for breakfast, have some coffee that we roast here, sit outside under an olive tree with a glass of wine and enjoy some lunch,” Perry Rea, President and Owner of Queen Creek Olive Mill, says. Established in 2005, Queen Creek Olive Mill has remained an important facet of the town’s agritourism initiatives. The Mill’s Farm, Market, and Eatery are all in one location in the middle of town in Queen Creek, Arizona. Historically, Queen Creek has roots as a farming community, which Rea says was one major factor in his decision to establish the mill there. After working for 40 years in the automotive industry, Rea retired, later becoming president of a large family-owned business with over two thousand employees across the United States, Canada and Mexico. When the company was sold - and his time with the company was up - he “decided [he wanted] to do something else.” While visiting Arizona from Detroit, the idea that eventually became Queen Creek Olive Mill came to Rea naturally. “I’m Italian. I like to grow things. I like to eat, I’m a foodie,” he explains. “My wife [Brenda] and I were walking in Scottsdale and saw a bunch of olive trees, and that was the idea.” With her suggestions and encouragement, they
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decided to move forward and open an olive mill together. “That’s how it all got started, and the entrepreneur I am, I started investing.” Rea attended the University of California at Davis to take classes on the complexities of olive oil, manufacturing techniques and other relevant courses that would help him grow his business. He visited different mills across America, eventually traveling all the way to Italy to observe and learn from their age-old olive oil production process. “We started with just one product,” says Rea. “Extra virgin olive oil from olives we grew.” Since the company’s beginnings, their product line has grown dramatically to reflect their continued success. Employees harvest fresh olives, manufacture oils and vinegars and fill labeled bottles in-house, which Rea calls a true “blossom-to-bottle” process. When guests step onto Queen Creek Olive Mill’s 56-acre property, they can expect to be greeted by over 14,000 olive trees. Surprisingly, that number isn’t enough to meet
