The Olive Farm is in Salt Spring Island, B.C.
A rarity in Canada, the only commercial olive farm in the country, is going up for auction in August.
CLHbid.com will oversee the sale of The Olive Farm and its almost 74 acres of land in Salt Spring Island, B.C.
Canadian olive production is very low because of its cold winters, and the country relies heavily on imports to support domestic demand.
For context, Canada imported about 50.22 kilotonnes of olive oil – roughly 20 Olympic swimming pools worth – in 2024.
But The Olive Farm’s unique location in B.C. supports year-round growing conditions of its olive trees.
“The long warm summers of the Fulford Valley, in combination with mild winters, contribute to the lush, low-lying farmland that is responsible for the perfect growing conditions year-round,” the sale listing says.
The farm is being sold in two parcels, each with a $2.19 million starting bid.
Parcel 1 is 38 acres and includes about 750 trees across a three-acre area with an existing irrigation system to support the crops. A shop and greenhouse are also included in this parcel.
Parcel 2 comprises 36 acres and includes a turnkey Tuscan-inspired home.
An additional purchase opportunity comes in the form of Pieralisi olive oil extraction equipment for $150,000.
“The fruit goes from the washer up the ladder and through the hammer mill, then the process is malaxing (the slow and continuous churning of milled olive paste) for about an hour, followed by the centrifuge decanter-system, (modern extraction which combines efficiency, hygiene, and consistency and is better for commercial use) and then finishes in the separator,” the listing says.
The oil the olives produce is popular.
The Olive Farm’s olive oil was recently featured on a menu prepared by Chef Louie Charest for the king of Spain.
And in October 2022 Chef Rob Gentile celebrated the oil and its “particular seaweed ocean like note that’s unique due to the farm being on Salt Spring Island in B.C.,” he said on Instagram showing off a caviar and burrata dish with the olive oil.
An equipment package is also available for $275,000.
This package includes:
- Kioti RX7320 tractor
- Kioti KL7320 tractor
- 2008 Ford Super Duty F250 truck
- KUHN mowing disc
- Kubota Pendulum spreader
George and Sheri Braun are the current owners of the farm.
Their dreams for a Canadian olive orchard came after a trip to Europe.
They moved from Cochrane, Alta., to Kelowna where they started a cherry orchard, and ended up in Salt Spring Island to start the olive farm in 2010.
“We kept it super quiet for the first five years because we honestly didn’t know if it would succeed. We didn’t know if our trees would survive,” Sheri told the National Post in 2017.
The Brauns planted their first trees in 2012 and nurtured them for four years until the olives were ripe enough to harvest in December 2016 with help from family.
This work resulted in 162 200-mL bottles of high-quality olive oil.
“We knew that it had a profile that was going to be unique and really high quality. And then the other thing is the polyphenols – the numbers came in off the charts for the high polyphenols, which is your antioxidants,” Sheri told the newspaper.
Farms.com has contacted the Brauns for comment on the sale of their olive farm.