Pressed to impress

LEWIS CLARKE finds out how a conversation over a pint in a pub led to a dream retirement project growing in to a thriving and unusual Cornish business venture - olive oil production

- LEWIS CLARKE

The olive trees thriving in Cornwall

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, 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."

DIGGING INTO THE ROOTS

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.