Shane & Anne O’Neill spent many years living and working in the Goldfields. They never imagined they would be selling olives but after searching the state looking for a lifestyle business Yirri Grove appeared. This lovely little olive farm overlooking the breathtaking Recherche Archipelago in Esperance would prove to be just the ‘sea change’ they were looking for.
In the beginning there was some TLC and a fair bit of maintenance to bring the olive grove into production, not to mention a whole lot of learning about olives to do. Their first crop in 2010 yielded 110kg and gave them the opportunity to make a few mistakes over 101 possible ways to debitter and preserve olives. In the end they settled on a simple old fashioned method. The following years harvest yielded 330kg boosting their enthusiasm and giving them enough confidence to hit up the bank with a business plan. As a result, their Bonolio Olive Oil processor arrived in March 2012 just in time for the bumper 3,300 kg harvest.
In 2014 the Olive Processing Factory and Farm Shop was built, eventually growing to include the Yirri Grove Restaurant too, giving their customers the opportunity to pop out to the Farm, enjoy olive tasting, high tea and delicious meals featuring the best of Yirri Grove with views of the olive groves and archipelago.
Anne and Shane are firmly committed to promoting and supporting locally grown and produced food. They are thoroughly enjoying their sea-change and proud to supply a product that is grown in the sunshine, cared with loving hands and has taken the time to mature properly.