Many people would think that Canada’s climate is far too harsh to grow olive trees. But those people would be wrong, as on Salt Spring Island, B.C., The Olive Farm has been producing high-quality olive oil since 2016.

It was started by husband and wife George and Sheri Braun as a dream farm. Now, after producing oil for about 10 years, the farm is now up for sale after the passing of George Braun in 2025, with Sheri Braun wanting to sell the property.

The online auction firm CLHbid.com will be offering the farm and its 74 acres and 750  oil-producing trees for sale on Aug. 12.

“Sheri and George set out on a vision to create something that’s never been done before in Canada: a commercial olive grove,” Tyler Ruttan, director of sales at CLHbid.com told FoodNX during an interview.

“It’s just a bit hard to live this dream as one. It was a dream of two people, and so Sheri’s deciding to pass on the legacy to somebody else," he said.

"The brand’s there, and Sheri comes to us from a basis of she wanted more than just a traditional list price, and that’s where CLHbid.com comes in comes into play.”

Dream to produce olive oil in Canada

The “price-discovery platform” bidding process will be one hour long, Ruttan explained, where buyers “can see when they’ve been outbid and they can bid back.” If a higher offer comes in, the process is extended until someone makes the winning bid.

The minimum bid is $2.19 million per parcel and subsequent bids are priced at $10,000 increments, he said. There are two parcels of land and buyers can bid on one or both.

For the Brauns, opening the farm had some early hiccups when contacting places to purchase starter olive trees.

“They wouldn’t sell them trees because they didn’t think it would work, but they ended up finding some good people,” Ruttan said.

A farmer in California eventually supplied Italian trees to the Brauns and after some hard labour, the trees produced oil.

“Years and years of work to get the irrigation and the trees in an environment where they’re producing; dealing with all the other weather and other setbacks that come along the way with starting a new farm, and they created something that is absolutely great,” Ruttan said.

“And fast forwarding to today, their product is sold in some very high-end restaurants.”

Minimal marketing to sell product

When the Brauns first started to think about advertising and how to sell their olive oil, they were amazed at the initial response.

“Because of the traction, and because of the demand, it was it was almost the opposite of needing to market with social media and the following they had," Ruttan said. "Sheri would go on and advise everybody that we’re now ready to start selling, and they would typically sell out within a day or two.”

The unique microclimate of the Gulf Islands — that sees mild winters, warm summers and the Pacific Ocean’s moderating effects — provided an ideal habitat. The farm is located in the Fulford Valley which is also a “highly productive” region for wineries, according to Ruttan.

“This valley is known for its soil and its environment to produce.”

The first parcel contains the farm and a mill, along with malaxing equipment that is used to extract the oil. In the second parcel, there is a villa-style home.

“It’s something you wouldn’t see typically in Canada, with the courtyard and the views of the mountains and everything else. It’s absolutely spectacular,” Ruttan said.

The initial feedback from prospective buyers has been assuring to Sheri Braun, according to Ruttan.

“We’ve had interest from all over North America on the farm, but the one thing that resonates with me is everybody that has phoned has a real passion for the vision that Sheri and George set out on. The feedback’s been: Canada needs this, and we really want to be involved in something that’s so unique.”

Future of The Olive Farm

There is also room for future growth for the new owners who may want to build on the legacy of the original owners.

“(The Brauns) took great pride in what it did for their family, and all the springtime and the summertime and the fall harvests that they did together with the family and the children, the grandchildren and everybody else," Ruttan said.

"For Sheri, I know she would love to see that same sort of landscape for the new buyer," he continued, "where they take great joy out of not only creating something that’s unique to Canada, but also just the joy of the farm because that’s what it did for the Brauns.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story text has been edited to correct the number of trees on the property. We sincerely apologize for the error.