Our Story

We Believe The Best Moments Begin Around The Table.

It started as a way to spend time together. One of our daughters, homeschooled at the time, told us she wanted to work with her family, and that simple wish became a project, then a farmers market table, and eventually a tasting room of our own in Crown Point, Indiana, a place where people could discover premium olive oils and balsamic vinegars and bring a little more intention to their cooking.

It grew into something we hadn’t fully planned for. People lingered. They came back. They started buying gifts for friends, for new homeowners, for the hostess they wanted to honor. They told us they loved how the space felt. Collected. Unhurried. Like a home that welcomes you. So we listened. And we shifted.

The Outward Olive is now a curated pantry and gifting house, still rooted in flavor, but built around something bigger: the belief that beautiful things shared with people you love make life richer. That a well-set table changes the quality of a conversation. That the right gift, chosen with care, says something no card can.

We are a family business. My husband and I built this together, and our daughters have grown up watching it take shape. Our faith shapes the way we work, not as a label we wear, but as the reason we try to pour generosity into everything we make. We want to be the kind of business that is known not for what it says, but for how it makes people feel.

To be outward is to live with your hands open, toward your community, toward your table, toward the people in front of you. That’s what we’re building here. We’re glad you found us.

— Jim & Kristina, The Outward Olive Family