Main Ridge Olive Co
Nestled among the wineries and rolling hills of Red Hill wine country is Main Ridge Olive Company. From humble beginnings, Main Ridge Olive Company has been a project fuelled by a love of excellent produce and passion to master the art of growing, harvesting and cold pressing olives.
After juggling full-time work in busy restaurants alongside raising a young family, Tim and Grace Jupp made the decision to combine their skills to build “a few bottles a month” into what it is today. Together, the pair have now become the largest producers of premium olive products on the Mornington Peninsula.
Proudly managing more groves on the Mornington Peninsula than any other olive company, you will taste the produce from some of the Mornington Peninsula’s sweetest spots such as Main Ridge, Red Hill, Rye and Flinders, bringing together a wealth of oil varietal and olive mixes each year.
Regardless of the growth the company has seen, Tim and Grace remain hands-on through every step of the olive farming process — from managing the groves, to harvesting the fruit, to cold-pressing the olives, and naturally salt brining and packaging them.
Akin to winemaking, the oil process is detail-oriented where the organically-managed fruit is cold-pressed at our facility within six hours of being harvested. This meticulous process ensures that the quality of the fruit is maintained, and that as much flavour as possible is built into the oil.
Our table olives are hand picked, sorted, washed and placed into brine within the same day. Over a 12-18 month period (depending on whether the olive is green or black) the olives ferment enhancing the natural flavours while maintaining a firm texture to the bite. Many commercially available table olives are rapidly processed in chemicals (such as lye aka caustic soda) which removes much of the natural olive flavour and texture.
From the founding days in 2017, the business has expanded rapidly, now offering cold-pressing services to other local growers. You can find our products in more than 20 fine grocers, restaurants and farm gates along the Mornington Peninsula and beyond.
One of the things we love most about our products is that from tree to shelf, the entire process has only run through the hands of 2 or 3 people. We strive to bring you excellence and hope you can taste the love that goes into creating our products.