About Us

Each of our oils is made from specially selected cultivars, grown and harvested with an emphasis on taste and quality. Care is given throughout the growing season, not just at harvest, to insure superior taste and quality. Some cultivars need to be picked well before they are ripe in order to boost polyphenols. Our cultivars permit us to harvest with an emphasis on taste while still delivering the high polyphenols and very low oxidant levels expected of a premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Olive oils are often blended with other oils from multiple locations, which can unintentionally obscure the origin of the oil. We work closely with our growers to maintain complete product traceability. Our industry-leading single estate olive oils feature clear harvest dates. We emphasize minimal, lightweight packaging designed to both protect the olive oil and reduce our carbon footprint. We have pioneered the recycling of our pomace and olive water, the natural but astringent paste and juice of olives normally discarded after milling, to create our Green Valley Color® botanical dyes.

Our watchwords are passion, care and a humility taught by nature. Our passion and care extend from the cultivars we work with, to our growers, business partners and customers. Whatever contribution we may make, Olioculture is an ancient vocation and we are constantly working to make a contribution worthy of those who have gone before us.

The seeds for Green Valley Olive were planted in in the 1990s, when Jeff’s experience in other leading olive oil regions convinced him that his home region of El Dorado county in the heart of Northern California’s ‘Gold Country’ could also become a global leader in premium olive oils. In 2004 Jeff began working in earnest on what would become Green Valley Olive, planting our first groves in 2008 and marketing our first single estate EVOOs in 2010.

Kaoru brings over 25 years of fashion experience and expertise to the Green Valley Olive team. After an 18 year career at fashion retailers Beams and United Arrows, Kaoru became CEO and Chief Designer of her own women’s apparel brand, Kaon, embodying elegant, feminine style. Kaoru holds an Olive Oil Sommelier Certificate from The Olive Oil Sommelier Association of Japan.

Jeff began his career in investment banking and real estate, and he has subsequently held leadership positions in retail operations, merchandising, marketing and general management at The Gap, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, LVMH, Vodafone, Disney and NBC Universal. At Aisonne, the retail and branding consultancy he founded in 2002, he has worked with Apple, Vodafone, Ralph Lauren and others to establish, rebrand or grow their retail and licensing businesses in Asia Pacific.
Jeff received his B.A. in Business Administration from Pacific Union College and his M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.