Ojai Olive Oil Company
Ojai Olive Oil, Inc. was founded by Ronald H. Asquith (1932-2013) in 1999, a year after he acquired 35 acres of land in the East end of the Ojai Valley. The land’s attraction was the heritage grove of over 100 olive trees that had been planted between 1860 and 1880 in a small a canyon nestled up against the foothills.
When the lab test results in Cordoba, Spain determined the trees to be a reputable Spanish variety called Lechin de Sevilla, Ron decided he would reclaim the olive grove and build an olive oil company. The same year he milled olive oil for the first time, in 2000, he began planting varieties of olive trees: 2 French cultivars that are mild in intensity of flavor (Columella and Picholine), 3 Italian cultivars, mild in intensity (Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino), another Spanish (Hojiblanca), and a Sicilian (Noccelara del Belice), robust and medium-strong respectively. In 2011, the company acquired its organic certification.
The first competition in which our olive oils competed was organized in Germany by the gourmet magazine Der Feinschmecker, and they earned top awards! In 2013, our “Signature” EVOO was awarded “Best Of Show” by the California Olive Oil Council.” Nowadays, our company is known not only for the outstanding extra-virgin olive oils it produces, but also for the wide variety it offers.
