Craig and Cindy Makela
Craig Makela’s family has been in Santa Barbara, Calif., for generations and was influential in the region’s agricultural development. His pioneering success in the domestic olive business is only natural. Along with his wife Cindy, he started Santa Barbara Olive Co. in a garage in 1982 when he was 25.
“I had no budget at all and built it into a $15 million company in 28 years,” he says, adding that he had originally wanted to own his own winery but couldn’t afford it. Previously, he’d worked at Santa Barbara Winery and was attracted to the olive oil business after seeing how the two paralleled one another.
Over the decades, the couple has been active in the Specialty Food Association, American Institute of Wine and Food, National Grocers Association, California Grocers Association, and co-founded the California Specialty Food Association. Their company grew to become the largest specialty olive company in the U.S., and was instrumental in modern oil milling and winning over American consumers for its fragrant, green, pungent character.
They sold the company in 2009 and when their non-compete clause was up in 2016, they dug back in. Their new California Coast Naturals produces organic olives and five varieties of extra virgin olive oil made from seven types of olives grown on their 101-acre ranch. They are cured with salt and water, never with lye, heat, or pasteurization.
Major distribution quickly followed—their friends in the specialty food industry had not forgotten them—and the products are stocked at Ralph’s, Bristol Farms, and Walmart, among other outlets. Craig estimates sales will reach $1 million by next year. Meanwhile, he is also the CEO of Oleavicin L.L.C., a medical development company the couple co-founded to manufacture gels from olive tree leaves to target cold sores, canker sores, and other skin problems.
“The last 25 years we’ve seen a resurgence of mom-and-pop olive ranches up and down the coast,” he says. “When we retire, our four capable children will take over and where they take the company is entirely up to them.”--Julie Besonen