From Motor Oil to Olive Oil

A warm getaway from the chilly Detroit weather actually turned out to be one of the most influential trips my wife, Brenda, and I ever decided to take.  In 1997, we visited the Valley of the Sun, and were surprised to see the abundance of olive trees growing around the Phoenix area. Intrigued and excited upon the discovery, Brenda had an idea: Let's make extra virgin olive oil in Arizona!  I thought, "Sure...why not take advantage of this fruitful environment and produce olive oil ourselves?"

Within the year, we left Detroit and the automotive industry behind and relocated with our four children (and one on the way) to Phoenix, Arizona.  We decided to plant 1,000 olive trees on 100 acres in the outskirts of the town of Queen Creek (We now have over 7,000 trees, 16 varieties). Queen Creek seemed like the perfect place, considering its rich farming history. With the idea of providing the Arizona community with fresh, local, extra virgin olive oil, we built a farm shed, which we eventually transformed into the Queen Creek Olive Mill you see today.

We are proud to say that we have created a place where our customers can come and enjoy a real Agritourism experience in Queen Creek, Arizona. We have grown organically and beautifully - forming strategic relationships with farmers in Yuma and California, ensuring sustainable farming practices from planting techniques to pressing methods and producing real, delicious extra virgin olive oil!