camilla's journey

Growing up in Sydney, as a child I was always surrounded and nurtured by good food. My mother is an extraordinary cook and her parents were beef farmers from near Barraba, in northwest New South Wales. I knew early the rhythms and routines of rural life and grew to have a deep appreciation of produce, both in its raw form and on the table. I spent a lot of time in Asia as a teenager, travelling with my father who moved to Hong Kong when I was 10. We spent months eating our way through the various cultures of Asia and the world, which awakened in me a sense of understanding that cultures, and food cultures in particular, are extremely valuable and need protection.

After school I studied law and eventually became a corporate lawyer, a career that wasn't for me and one I found to be not my true purpose. After several years slogging away in that industry, I took and adventurous leap into the unknown and decided to become part of the food industry. The first step on this journey was to open a cafe with a true rustic Provencal theme in inner-city Sydney. This was a wonderful stepping stone into moving up the food chain to become a supplier to other food businesses.

I started Olive Green Organics in 2003. The aim was, and still is, to source the best quality, most authentic and environmentally sustainable products I can find, products that are a win-win for both those who eat them and those who produce them. The quest to find the products we supply through Olive Green Organics has taken me on many varied adventures around the world, from Bolivia and Peru to Spain, Portugal and Thailand. 

Always my intention is to find products of deep integrity that have an intrinsic connection with the place of origin. When people ask me, "Why don't you source your products from Australia?" my answer is that I specifically set out to find products at their point of origin - where they are authentically found and in sync with the environment and the culture of that place. This results in the highest-quality product and helps preserve and protect the community where these products originally came from. 

I believe there is a very strong connection between culture and food and that by allowing original communities to sustain themselves using traditional modes of production encourages a proud and peaceful existence for those people. Such practice has enormous benefits for the wider communities in which these products are produced. We specifically deal with farmers, fishermen and producers who have sovereignty over their business and have every single interest in producing the best products possible. Their products are created with love, integrity and pride. We have worked tirelessly to find these products and we are with our suppliers for the long-term.

Thank you for supporting our business, which in turn supports valuable and precious communities around the world. Your contribution helps maintain clean land, healthy seas, food cultures and happy communities. We are very proud to bring such nutritious, safe food to you and your families. We love doing the work so that you can be comfortable in the knowledge that these foods can be wholeheartedly enjoyed. No guilt. No doubt. Just food to eat and enjoy.

Love