about — Zeit

why Zeit?

For generations, we have watched the women of our family carefully harvest and produce olive oil that our family and village depends on. These women have been the root of our family, providing strength and care to all their offspring and passing their wisdom to each generation that follows. This role manifests itself in our family’s olive oil, providing us with a staple ingredient that adds the ultimate flavor and nutrition to every dish we consume. As our family dispersed to different countries, we realized how special our olive oil is and could never find an adequate substitute. We noticed that most olive oil we had access to is impure, lacks nutrients, and is batch-made, resulting in a lack of care and quality that compromises the standards that have been inherently embedded in us from our upbringing. We kept coming back to our family’s Zeit.

Zeit is a small-batch, family-run organization. We produce a limited quantity of olive oil based on our year's harvest and once that runs out we wait until the next harvest to sell. Zeit provides the freshest, purest, ethically conscious olive oil with a flavor that is noticeably better than the olive oil we see on the shelves of supermarkets.

our groves

Our groves sit at the top of a mountain just minutes away from the Mediterranean beaches off the coast of Lebanon. For generations, our family has gathered around basking in the sun enjoying the cool Mediterranean breeze as we watch over the fertile hills that produce the olive oil we have consumed for decades. The mild winters and long and warm summers are the reason our groves have survived generations and consistently produce the highest quality extra virgin olive oil our family loves. The soil supplies the most organic and fertile nutrients for our trees to flourish, providing a filtration system that gives us the most pure olives perfect for creating the highest quality extra virgin olive oil. The love of our land passes through to our olives and is what gives Zeit the rich and pure flavor we pride ourselves on.

the harvest process

Winter

Winter is the most important time for our olive trees. During this time, our trees collect energy from the same Mediterranean terrain that has been the breeding grounds of our trees for generations. This is the time when the trees rest after the harvest season in order to prepare for another prosperous and rich olive life cycle.

Spring

Spring is the start of the olive flowering season. During this time, our trees sprout beautiful clusters of fragrant petals which, as taught by our ancestors, is an indication of a fruitful harvest to come.

Summer

Summer is the start of the fruit development period. It is when the spring petals fall, and the formation of the olive pit, the ultimate source of our unique and rich olive oil, begins. The olive fruits grow and flourish under the bright sun and gentle breezes of the Mediterranean.

Fall

Fall is the time of harvest. The olives have matured and ripened and just as they darken, they are ready to be hand-picked and pressed into our nutrient rich Zeit.