Olivada celebrates 15 years of shaping tastes for olive oil

Judith Munson

Contributor

January 26, 2026

SHEBOYGAN – Think you know your olive oil?

Carrie Guell, founder of Olivada, Sheboygan’s olive oil bottling company, said true quality comes down to drinkability.

Guell said her “try before you buy” approach has built a loyal following and helped the business – which is celebrating 15 years in operation in 2026 – thrive.

Taste matters

Not all olive oils, she said, are created equal, and finding a truly flavorful one can be surprisingly difficult.

At bigger grocery stores, Guell said olive oil shelves overflow with brands, each featuring the familiar varieties and flavors: extra virgin, virgin, robust, mild, light.

Many, she said, even claim “premium” quality, flaunting ornate, Italian-inspired labels.

“You think it’s going to be great, and then when you get it home, it tastes awful,” she said.

Guell said she’s been there, scanning the shelves for a decent olive oil for dipping, sauteeing or drizzling over salads with vinegar. 

“Labels may say 100% pure olive oil, extra virgin, premium and imported, but the taste is still off,” she said. “I’ve gone to Italian restaurants, and they come out with the bread and the balsamic and the oil and you dip your bread in there, and I’m thinking, ‘Where do they get this?’ It tastes so good.”

Guell said this marked the beginning of her journey to learn about olive oil and teach others how to find restaurant-quality extra virgin oils and balsamic vinegars for home use.

Like many others, she said she loves cooking with olive oil and values its health benefits – but she also wanted one so flavorful it’s worth sipping straight.

That’s right, Guell said: there’s no bread for dipping at Olivada.

Instead, she said, customers are given a small sample to drink to fully experience the true flavor that good olive oil has to offer. 

“I fell in love with the concept of trying before you buy, to let people sample olive oils and vinegars,” she said. “There wasn’t anything like that around here. This way, you know exactly what it tastes like before you walk out the door. I really wanted to start my own retail store, and that’s basically what got me started.”

A new path

Before Olivada, Guell said she ran a business in her hometown of Kiel with her husband, who tragically passed away in 2007, along with her brother, in a car accident.

“We ran an insulation business at the time,” she said. “It was our dream. But after he passed, it wasn’t my dream. I just wanted to do something for myself, something that would be completely different.”

Guell said she began chasing her olive oil dream by immersing herself in research.

“The University of California, Davis did a huge study on olive oils and found at least 75% that claimed to be ‘extra virgin’ were no longer extra virgin oils,” she said. “These oils are still sold under that label in the United States, because there are zero regulations here, absolutely none.”

On top of that, she said olive oil is not very shelf stable and needs to be consumed within 12 to 18 months from the time it is crushed.

“If it’s not fresh, it will not contain the health benefits,” she said. “My business really started taking off when I started providing this education to our customers who soon learned that you really can taste the difference.”

Guell said Olivada opened in 2011, with help from the Downtown Sheboygan Business Improvement District in finding the “perfect spot” right on the waterfront.

“It’s just gorgeous – I fell in love with the location,” she said. “So many people comment on how beautiful it is down there.”

Knowing, tasting the difference

New visitors to the shop, Guell said, often need a little encouragement before trying a sample.
“They’re like, ‘I’m supposed to drink this?’” she said. “They’re so used to the musty, stinky, substandard oil that’s on the market, but once they try the fresh extra virgin oil, they’re hooked. I explain, ‘Yes, this is what a true extra virgin olive oil is supposed to taste like.’ I’ve been getting repeat business ever since, because now my customers know the difference.”

With the U.S. olive oil market largely unregulated, Guell said, product labels and claims can be confusing for shoppers.

“So many customers will come in and say, ‘I need a light olive oil,’” she said. “There is no such thing as a light olive oil.”

Each of Olivada’s oils, Guell said, is tested for quality before leaving the crushing facility.

The testing, she said, measures polyphenols, which are antioxidants, as well as free fatty acids and peroxide levels to ensure the oil meets high standards.

“If all of these components fall within certain numbers, the oil can legally be called – according to international standards – extra virgin,” she said.

All of the olive oils at Olivada, Guell said, are accompanied with detailed information, such as country of origin, when it was crushed and the chemical makeup.

This info, she said, helps assure customers of each oil’s freshness.

Though there is a common misconception that all olive oils come from Italy, Guell said they actually emanate from all over the world.

“We have two hemispheres that crush, so we get our oil from both,” she said. “The northern hemisphere crushes between October through December – this includes Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and even California. Our oils from California are absolutely amazing. The southern hemisphere crushes between April and June, and we usually get ours from Peru, Chile and Australia.”

Guell said fresh olive oil can be identified by its pleasant aroma – noting that if it smells musty, that’s a clear sign the oil is old.

“A good oil may smell kinda grassy, indicating it’s fresh,” she said.

Taste, Guell said, is also key to knowing if an oil is fresh and is why the “try before you buy” concept is so important at Olivada.

“That’s why I don’t do bread for the sampling, because when you drink the olive oil, you’ll begin to feel a sort of peppery sensation in the back of your throat, even an urge to cough – and that’s perfect,” she said. “That’s exactly what we want.”

Guell said that gentle tickle in the back of the throat signals that the olive oil is packed with polyphenols – the living, bioactive antioxidants.

“We have mild, medium and robust intensities,” she said. “The higher the intensity, the higher your polyphenol counts are.”

With growing interest in food as medicine, Guell said many customers visit Olivada seeking high-quality extra virgin olive oils specifically for their nutraceutical benefits.

These shoppers, she said, aren’t necessarily concerned with provenance, ratings, or how the oil pairs with a salad.

“They just want the highest antioxidant one we have,” she said.

Consuming one to two tablespoons a day, Guell said, is believed to support brain and heart health.

Olivada’s ability to offer high-quality extra virgin oils, she said, is thanks to its supplier, Veronica Foods, based in Oakland, California.

The century-old company, Guell said, travels to the world’s major olive-growing regions to source the finest oils. 

“They have very strict standards,” she said. “They get the fruit right at the peak of freshness, because when you get an overripe olive, it will have more juice, but free fatty acid numbers start creeping up.”

To qualify as extra virgin, Guell said the oils must stay below 0.8% acidity. 

“As soon as the olives are shaken off the tree, they’re taken to the mill, and if left standing longer than four hours before getting crushed, Veronica Foods will refuse them,” she said. “So, the quality of product we get is by far superb.”

Guell said her supplier exclusively imports oils made with cold extraction methods, unlike most manufacturers who use warm water to increase yields – a process that results in a less pure product.

Veronica Foods, she said, also supplies Olivada with its balsamic vinegars, which serve as another eye-opener for customers who are used to grocery store varieties.

“Our balsamics are also loaded with antioxidants,” she said. “There’s nothing artificial added to them. People will tell me, ‘Oh, I don’t like balsamics.’ But they’re used to ones with artificial colors, sweeteners, thickeners, fillers, when ours is a true balsamic. So, when they try it, they’re like, ‘I can’t believe this. It’s so good.’”

All of Olivada’s oils, Guell said, are hand-bottled right at the store.

Several varieties of extra virgin oils, she said, are available, as well as many infused oils (where fresh ingredients, such as fruits and herbs, are added after crushing) and fused oils (where the two ingredients are crushed together).

In total, Guell said there are 75 varieties available, including flavors such as peppercorn, green lemon, chipotle, dill and blood orange.

She said the store provides recipes and pairing recommendations for its oils and balsamics.

“[For example, the Rosemary Whole Herb Fused Oil] is perfect with poultry, pork or lamb, [and tastes] spectacular drizzled over sautéed vegetables and with roasted potatoes,” she said. “[It] pairs well with the Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic, Oregano White Balsamic and Pomegranate Dark Balsamic.”

Both white and dark balsamic vinegars are available on tap at the store, Guell said, in flavors such as pomegranate, elderberry, maple, espresso, cinnamon pear, key lime and coconut.

She said the store also carries a wide selection of specialty and gourmet foods, including cheese spreads, soups, salsas, honey, mustards, popcorn and gift boxes.

Beyond Sheboygan

Guell said Olivada has carved out a unique niche in the Sheboygan area, attracting customers from as far away as Green Bay. 

Local restaurants, she said, feature Olivada oils on their menus, and bars use its vinegars for shrubs.

Guell said the shop also ships nationwide, often to visitors who first discovered the oils during a tasting in town.

“I have a person in Alaska who orders from us, another in Florida,” she said. “Our customers know the quality of our product. They know what they’re getting because they’ve already tried it. We’re very fortunate to be where we are, because Sheboygan is a touristy town.”

Guell said Olivada benefits from a culinary landscape that increasingly values pure, premium ingredients with health benefits.

“A lot of people have been in the market for good, quality, healthy oils, so many people tell us, ‘please don’t go, please don’t leave,’” she said.

For more information about Olivada and its offerings, visit olivadaoils.com.