Villa Cyprus brings authentic olive oil to B.R.

The first time Michael O’Neill met his wife Lena’s family in Cyprus in the summer of 2007, he experienced the island’s culture and cuisine, realizing how prominently olive oil played in the dishes he was served. One taste of the local oil and he determined it was the best he had ever had.

To his dismay, though, O’Neill found out he couldn’t get Cyprus’ olive oil in the states.

“They’ve been producing olive oil for thousands of years, but they only produce it for themselves,” he says. “That’s when I had the idea that we had to bring this back home.”

The idea was put on hold as O’Neill joined the army as a JAG attorney. Due to the job, the couple moved around to Florida. While he was still an attorney and captain, his wife launched the idea last May.

The couple teamed up with a cousin in California to revisit that olive oil idea, thus giving birth to Villa Cyprus, a line of imported olive oils and accoutrement. The oils can now be purchased at Calandro’s Supermarkets.

When the first container was shipped last Decemeber, the oil tested well at the winter Fancy Food show in San Francisco.

These days, O’Neill is in the reserves. He and his wife just moved back to Baton Rouge a few months ago. However, they’re making a big push to get this olive oil to customers. O’Neill says he is currently in negotiations with some pretty big national retailers and a few celebrity chefs, hoping to make a bigger splash.

“It’s a matter of introducing both the people to Cyprus and vice versa,” he says. “Once it got out there in front of the people, we’ve had success with it.”—Matthew Sigur