The Story

The story of our company started as a hobby about 15 years ago when I started making olives and pickles to enjoy since I'm a big olives and pickles fan. I kept changing the recipe and using different ingredient to come up with new flavors that will give unique and bold flavors. I was sharing my hobby with my family and friends all these years. About 4 years ago, I gave some olives to a chef that I met at the cafe where I used to have my lunch few days a month. He was so impressed with the taste and flavors that he said maybe you should consider selling them to other people because they are so different and bold than what's available in the market. After that I started looking into starting a business to make and sell my olives. I then started working on a business plan and figuring out how to make them at a reasonable cost and keep the same great quality and taste. I started production in our facility in February 2012 and started selling about 2 months ago. We make Sofia’s Selection olive products: Sicilian green pitted Olives (Jumbo size) and Black pitted Olives (Large Size) marinated in a balanced mix of White Vinegar, Water, Sugar, Garlic, Sea Salt, and our own blend of Spices. Our Olives have unique and bold flavors that you will not find in any other product. They are savory and spicey at the same time. Our Olives are free of artificial flavors, free of artificial colors and free of artificial preservatives. They are low in calories, have the lowest sodium content than any olive product in the market and the sodium level is even lower than many other products. They are free of high fructose corn syrup. All have natural and best quality ingredients. They are Hand crafted in small batches and hand packed in our facility in Warren, Michigan.

This is a picture of our Green Olives jar

Sofia's Selection olives are healthy and fun. Visit our home page at www.sofiaselection.com to have more information and to order them online.

Healthy? Really?

Olives are one of the healthy foods that base many benefits to our bodies and help us live better and longer. It's an essential parts in the Mediterranean diet that have pepper live healthy and happy life. Olives are rich in Iron, Copper, Vitamin E, and Antioxidant minerals.
While I don't plan on going too deep into science and medical terminology related to olive and its content, I'd like to point out few of the health benefits related to olive consumption in the same manner the people living in the Mediterranean basin do. The health benefits include but not limited to reducing the severity of Asthma, Osteoarthritis, Inflammations, and Rheumatoid arthritis. It help prevent heart disease, and help prevent colon and stomach cancer.
In addition to all this, olives are excellent source of renewable energy and when you burn olive woods, the ash cab be used as a fertilizer.
Olive is a high fat food ( don't eat a lot of it when you go for your medical physical exam), the kind of mono-unsaturated fat in olives help reduce LDL cholesterol and decrease blood pressure.
Don't forget olive consumption in moderation gives the best results. Also keeping healthy diet and regular exercise make you live even longer and healthier.

Sofia's Selection olives are healthy and fun. Visit our home page at www.sofiaselection.com or our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/sofiasselection to find more information

What kind of olives?

Spain is the largest producer of olives in the world and it's followed by Italy and Greece respectively. Olives are also cultivated in Turkey, France, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Algeria, Portugal, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Argentina, Chile, Peru, United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Some countries have common kinds and others have unique kinds.Most olive kinds are good for both eating and making olive oil
Although Kalamata might be the best known olives for consumers in the United States, there are many more varieties of olives in this world. Kalamata olives are named for a region in southern Greece and has a protected status meaning that no other olive can be called Kalamata unless they are grown in the region. Another olive variety from Greece is called Amfissa which also has a protected status for the region where the olive groove said to contain more then 1,200,000 olive trees.
From Spain there is Cornicabra which comprises about 13% of Spain's olive production and Picual in Southern Spain which is about 50% of olive production in Spain and 20% of the world production. Also from Spain, Mazanillo ( which is grown around the world including United States), Arbequina, and Hojiblanca varieties. From the Middle East, there is Maalot, Chemali, Nabali, Souri, and Malissi. All these varieties are know for producing high quality olive oils. From Italy, there are Frantoio and Leccion varieties which are grown in Tuscany.
In the United States, five varieties major varieties are grown which are: Manzanillo, Sevillano (also called Sicilian), Mission, Ascolano, and Barouni. The Mission variety is grown exclusively in California and it originated from the first olive trees planted by the Spanish monks. See the blog "How old is Olives?"
Sofia's Selection olives were selected to be Mission Black Olives and Sicilian Green Olives. Visit our home page at www.sofiaselection.com  or our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/sofiasselection to find more information

How old is Olive?

The olive tree was first cultivated about 5000 years ago in Crete and Syria. After that it flourished in Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and other Mediterranean countries for thousands of years and featured in many of the region's culinary specialities.
Olive trees were brought to Mexico by the Spanish monks and in 1769 the first olive trees were planted in California at the San Diego Mission.
The oldest olive tree is claimed to be in Lebanon and it said to be about 6000 years old. Some olive trees on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean were determined to be about 3000 years old. However most of the old olive trees are between 1500 - 2000 years old