LOCAL CRAVINGS THE MAIN OLIVE
T
here is something undeniably charming about The Main Olive. The exposed brick wall and silver tin ceiling draw you into the store where your eyes wander about the dark bottles of various heights and silver canisters on top wooden shelves. Glass jars filled with savory spreads carry names like “Raspberry Salsa” and “Monkey Butter.” They share shelf space with bags of BBQ rubs and bottles of local honey. It’s a delight for your eyes and taste buds. Jordan and Morgan Acton have a passion for food and have spent years traveling the southeast exploring farmers’ markets and gourmet food venues. “We both love to cook and love to talk about food,” Jordan says. In 2016 they combined that knowledge and a desire to do something entrepreneurial into opening their own business. Jordan shared, “We thought, let’s give it a go in downtown Oxford and do something we both really enjoy.” That joy became The Main Olive–a gourmet food store where you can enjoy complex flavors of infused olives oils–and Jordan will happily tell you why their oils are the freshest available. “People don’t realize light breaks down olive oil. When it’s sitting in a plastic container on a grocery store shelf, it starts to break down. The quality is extremely diminished even before you get it home. But here at The Main Olive, our oils are shipped to us in closed dark containers. We display our oils in stainless steel containers called fustis. The oils are protected from light, and it extends the shelf life, so our customers end up with a really fresh olive oil,” she said.
30
oxfordalabama.org
