José Vico's Olive Farm

Raw Organic Olives, grown about 100 kilometers south of Lima, Peru on a permaculture farm established by José Vico and his family in the desert. Our olives are hand picked, cured in sea salt and pure Peruvian spring water.

A Labour of Love

José planted his olive trees 19 years ago, and before he came, his farmland was an entirely barren desert. José has planted over 5,000 olive trees and over 500 varieties of other trees, which has provided a high level of biodiversity to the area. From nothing but snakes and rats when they started, the agriculture he's started from scratch has allowed all manner of birds and insects to find a home. He has significantly improved the environment and the ecological system by building this olive farm, and his 100% organic and sustainable practices are a model for other farmers.

The local community around this farm was severely impoverished before the olive farm was started. At its beginning, José employed 7 people and now employs up to 80 people from the local community during harvest and at least 25 people on an annual basis. José was also the first major employer in the area. Beyond this critical service of decent jobs, each year José donates olives and fruit for needy families in the local community.

One of José's passions is teaching, training, and mentoring. He has personally trained and promoted 6 processing and farm managers over the years – local men who started out without much marketable skill - who have gone on to higher paying jobs with other companies because of their training on his olive farm. Instead of begrudging the fact that he had to train them and then they leave, José instead is proud of the men he trained and continues to promote from within and prepare his top people for bigger and better opportunities than they could ever have had before. Obviously, these trained workers enhance the local community with their knowledge and incomes.

Due to his great success in sustainable, organic growing, José has been asked by the Ministry of Agriculture of Peru to provide organic farming training sessions on his farm. He has also traveled to different towns to provide this presentation. He has taught a course on organic agriculture at the Monterico College in Lima for 3 years, and within that time he has transformed the program from conventional agriculture methodologies to organic methodology practices. Through these training sessions he combines his innovative organic agriculture knowledge and his love of teaching to help spread the word about the plethora of benefits that organic farming provides - to the farmers with healthier work environments and higher prices for their goods, and to the environment with the natural fertilizers and lack of harmful chemicals.