Nik's pub idea bears fruit with pure olive oil gold

ROYAL MARINE TURNED OLIVE GROWER WINNING PLAUDITS

- By LEWIS CLARKE

TWO years ago, over a few pints in a quiet village pub, a bold idea took root. Today, that idea is bearing fruit quite literally as Cornwall begins to carve out its own unlikely place in the ancient world of olive oil production.

Nik Butcher, CEO of ValleRuan Olive Oil Company Ltd, has never been one to stick to the script. A former Royal Marine musician turned HR consultant, his journey into agriculture wasn't part of a meticulously crafted business plan - more a longstanding curiosity finally given room to grow.

"It was a retirement project, really," Nik says, while on his land in Ruan Lanihorne, a small, picturesque village on the Roseland Peninsula. "I'd always dreamed of starting an olive grove in the UK. Not just for the novelty, but to see if it could actually be done - properly. Can you grow them, ripen them, and press them into a high-quality oil here? That was the challenge."

The idea may have begun as a personal experiment, but its origins stretch further back. Nik's father was born in Vallerotonda, a hillside village in Italy's Lazio region, where generations of his family farmed olives. Though Nik grew up in the UK north Kent and later Northamptonshire that Italian agricultural legacy lingered in the background.

"There's something about carrying that forward," he says. "It's always been at the back of my mind."

The move to Cornwall six years ago was initially about quality of life - a slower pace, sailing, and countryside over the clatter of consultancy and rugby weekends. But when Nik shared his olive-growing idea at the local Kings Head pub, he found more than polite interest.

"It was a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, just a few of us chatting. I said I'd love to give it a go grow olives, see if we can press oil. The landlord, who's a local farmer, said he had land we could use. Then someone else chimed in. Another mate offered to back us financially to test the concept. And just like that, it snowballed."