Two years ago Stephen and Sarah Nunn gave up their day jobs and decided to change career paths to branch out into fruit and vegetable growing.
With a great deal of experimentation and dedication they have now become the first growers to sell English olives.
Mrs Nunn says: "We have impressed ourselves really, because we weren’t even sure we would be able to grow them at all."
With the cold weather we get here in the UK, the thought of purchasing home-grown olives wouldn’t occur to most people, as temperatures during autumn and winter would normally stop the olives from ripening.
Mr and Mrs Nunn have overcome this problem by replicating a warm and inviting Mediterranean temperature in a huge greenhouse.
The couple are currently selling their produce through Hornets Provisions village store and have been approached by other businesses interested in their olives.Many people who have tried the olives have said they are fleshier, firmer and sweeter than olives grown in Greece and Italy.
A website is being created to assist in sales of the produce and to help with the huge amount of interest from olive lovers worldwide.
As these are the only English olives currently available to the market they are sold at quite a large premium of £3.50 per 100g. That’s around four times as much as Mediterranean-grown olives.The fact that Mr and Mrs Nunn have become the first sellers of English olives is a big boost for the country and it is anticipated that there will be huge demand for their produce.
It just goes to show that anything is possible and our Mediterranean rivals need to watch out because England is hot on their tails in the olive produce stakes.
So next time you’re sitting in the sunshine enjoying fresh olives during your Kefalonia holidays , just think they may have actually been grown a lot closer to home than you think.
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