History, Mission & Farms
Our History, Mission & Farms
Since 1996, we have been proud to be a part of the farmer’s market revolution in the United States. As high-quality foods are often expensive to produce, being able to sell our products directly to customers enables us to keep prices as low as possible, while maintaining sound farming and fair labor practices.
Today, we are proudly women-owned and operated and many of our olive groves are in transition to become certified Organic!
Our California Extra Virgin Olive Oils have won many prestigious awards, including gold and silver (2024) at The New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC); gold, silver and bronze medals at the annual L.A. County Fair, and our oils are certified Extra Virgin by Modern Olives, a third party lab. When you purchase a bottle of Stonehouse California EVOO, you are literally buying one of the best olive oils in the world. We hope you enjoy it in good health, and with great pleasure!
We do our best to use sustainable packing at every level: our glass bottles are made with at least 30% recycled glass, and our labels are printed on recycled stock with soy-based inks. All of our cardboard - from gift sets to the boxes we ship in - are made from recycled cardboard, as well as all of the wrapping and cushioning we use in shipping. Our packing peanuts too are made from corn and are biodegradable. Read more about our eco-conscious practices here.
Our olives and farm partners:
We grow our olives on several farms in Northern California, all within a 1.5 hour drive from San Francisco, mainly: Winters, Capay, Napa, and Woodland. Some are certified organic, and some are in transition to organic. We do not use pesticides or herbicides on any of our ranches and only use a liquid fertilizer on one of our ranches in the Capay Valley when trees are first planted, as it is on an ancient rock bed and so cannot be tilled! Here are some photos from the groves: