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Inspired by a back-packing trip through the south of France, someone has finally opened up a shop which focuses attention on the burgeoning South African olive industry.

Run by Nanette Kornelius, a former accountant who, according to her husband, “just never was quite the same” after that fated trip in 2004, and ten months of research about the industry later, Tapenade Olive Shop takes pride of place in Johannesburg’s Cresta Centre, the name derived from the black olive, caper and anchovy paste that is sometimes called the “poor man’s caviar.”.

The shop is bursting at the seams with everything that has anything to do with olives – stuffed, dried, pickled. Olive pastes and spreads for every taste. The centrepiece of the shop, however, is the collection of over 60 different olive oils that compete for space on the shelves; all of them extra virgin and cold-pressed directly from the various estates.

“Almost everyone we meet is already convinced of the advantages of using olive oil instead of any other type of oil,” says Nanette, “but like with good wine, it takes a while to discover exactly what your personal taste in good oil is.” To help with this process there is usually something on offer to taste in the shop, with more formal tasting event being planned.

Besides the ‘edible’ part of the shop there are also a number of other pleasant surprises: a whole range of body products, a range of crockery and linen with an olive theme, cooking books and for those with more esoteric taste, olive flavoured mineral water!

Tapenade Olive Shop is open 7 days a week and can be found at Shop U41, Cresta Centre, Beyers Naude Avenue, Blackheath, Randburg. Phone them on (011) 478-5378, or write to Tapenade@intekom.co.za