east valley
Volume 2 Issue 30 Mesa, AZ
February 23, 2020
Olive Mill squeezing the most from agritourism BY GLENN SWAIN
Tribune Contributor
P
IN THE BIZ
eter Rea, wearing a �lannel shirt, vest, jeans, and boots, enjoys greeting visitors at his Queen Creek Olive Mill. “Really, we’re farmers,” he said as he welcomed customers near an aisle full of bottles of extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar. Rea’s Queen Creek Olive Mill is Arizona’s only working olive farm and mill. Family-owned and operated; the 100acre farm has more than 7,000 olive trees on 40 acres. Rea also harvests olives from 100 acres of trees near Yuma and 368 acres in Sacaton. Rea said 650,000 people visit Olive Mill annually to purchase the company’s extra-virgin olive oil, Rea’s own unique bottled vinegar recipes. The Olive Mill restaurant prepares fresh from scratch sandwiches, salads pizzas for visitors to eat indoors and outside on picnic tables under the shade of trees. Also for sale are bath and body products created on-site, and other Arizonamade products like honey made from bees on the premises. Visitors also take daily tours and learn the craft of olive oil making from several classes. Since buying the 100-acre property in 2003, Rea and other family members have now turned the Olive Mill into what he calls an “agritourism destination.” “Getting into the agritourism business Public Notices ............... page 1 © Copyright, 2020 East Valley Tribune
is interesting since it’s so comprehensive,” he explained. “We have a hundred people working for us. We have a farm operation where we harvest and process olives, we bottle and sell it, and we have a restaurant. “It’s comprehensive, and it’s a challenge, but it’s what makes us unique from everyone else. Between us and Schnepf Farms, we are agritainment, a fancy word for a farm delivering a variety of experiences to people.” The idea to enter into the olive oil business started with a �lippant comment from his Italian father when visiting Arizona in the late 1990s. At the time, Rea was in the automotive industry in Detroit but yearned to do something different. He and his wife, Brenda, at the time had four children and one on the way. “My father mentioned the number of olive trees growing in Arizona,” Rea said. “After returning from Arizona, Brenda and I were in an Irish pub in Bloom�ield, Michigan one night when she looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t we do olive oil in Arizona?’ “I had a business background. I started researching the olive business and who grew olives. I traveled to Italy to learn how to make olive oil.” It was slow going at �irst. Olive Mill produced only small amounts of olive oil. “When we started �ifteen years ago, we were doing about 150 pounds of olives an hour,” he said. Olive Mill’s processing facility, where (USPS 004-616) is published weekly
Mailing Address: 1620 W. Fountainhead Pkwy., Suite 219, Tempe, AZ 85282
(480) 898-6500 Steven Strickbine, publisher Paul Maryniak, executive editor
160,000 liters of olive oil is stored, is located near the restaurant, herb gardens and eating areas. Its extra-virgin olive oil is now known worldwide. Three years ago, Olive Mills won a gold award at the International Olive Oil Competition in New York. Last year Olive Mill took home a silver award out of more than 1,000 entries. The annual competition is the largest and most prestigious olive oil quality contest. Its annual list of award winners is the authoritative guide to the world’s best olive oils and the producers who craft them. Rea grabs a cup of coffee and strolls by shelving holding bottles of extra-virgin olive oil. “We do all the blending recipes ourselves,” he said. Like any other business owner, Rea is always looking to the future. “We’re getting ready to go through another expansion, but mainly in our processing,” he said while front-facing bottles on a shelf. “Now that those two other farms went into production last year, we’re going to need to increase our capacity from three tons of olives an hour to probably eight tons an hour.” Information: 5062 S. Meridian Road, Queen Creek. 480-888-9290. Queencreekolivemill.com. Subscriptions are $26 for 2 years, $14 for one year. Periodicals postage paid at Phoenix, AZ 85026.
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