The Village Press is a Hawke’s Bay-based producer focused on small-batch extra virgin olive oil and fresh-pressed pantry products. The brand is built around timing and handling. Olives are harvested and pressed quickly, which keeps the oil bright, fresh, and more expressive than standard supermarket oils.
Origin: Hawke’s Bay
Category: Pantry / Oils & Pressed Products
Availability: Online and selected NZ stockists
Website: thevillagepress.co.nz
What The Village Press actually makes
The Village Press centres its range on extra virgin olive oil, supported by nut oils and pressed pantry products.
The olive oil is the core. It’s made from locally grown olives that are pressed soon after harvest, which is where most of the difference comes from. When oil is pressed quickly, it retains more of the volatile compounds that give it flavour. That shows up as a greener, more vibrant profile, often with a slightly bitter edge and a peppery finish.
Alongside olive oil, The Village Press produces oils like walnut oil, which behave differently in cooking. These are more delicate and are typically used raw rather than heated, adding a softer, nuttier layer to dishes.
The range may also include pantry products like olives or pressed items, but everything ties back to freshness and how the ingredients are handled at the point of production.
Where The Village Press fits in a real kitchen
The Village Press sits closer to the “ingredient quality” end of the spectrum rather than convenience.
This is not about shortcuts. It’s about improving simple food by using better base components.
The olive oil works best when:
- it’s used in dishes where the oil is noticeable
- it’s added at the end rather than cooked down
- the rest of the dish is simple enough to let it show
The nut oils shift even further in that direction. They’re typically used raw, in small amounts, where they add aroma and flavour without being exposed to heat.
You’ll see The Village Press used in:
- salads where oil is a primary component
- drizzled over vegetables or grains just before serving
- paired with bread where the oil is tasted directly
- simple dishes where the ingredient isn’t hidden
The less you do to it, the more it shows.
Ideas on how to use
Use the olive oil in two distinct ways depending on what you want from it.
For cooking, use it lightly. It works for gentle sautéing of vegetables or garlic, but the flavour becomes less noticeable the longer it’s heated.
For finishing, use it deliberately. Drizzle over tomatoes, burrata, roasted vegetables, or simple pasta just before serving. This is where the freshness and peppery finish come through.
The walnut oil is best used raw. Add it to salads, roasted beetroot, or grain dishes, or drizzle lightly over vegetables where you want a softer, nutty flavour rather than something sharp.
The general approach is to treat these oils as ingredients, not just cooking mediums.
Product highlights
The extra virgin olive oil is the defining product. This is where The Village Press differentiates itself. The oil is fresh, slightly green in flavour, with a clean bitterness and a peppery finish that signals high polyphenol content. It’s versatile, but most effective when used as a finishing oil.
The walnut oil brings a different profile. It’s softer, more aromatic, and less aggressive than olive oil. It works best in cold applications where its flavour isn’t lost to heat, especially in salads or over roasted vegetables.
The pressed pantry products extend the same philosophy. Rather than adding new flavour directions, they carry the same focus on freshness and minimal processing.
Across the range, the difference is not just flavour but volatility. These are products that lose their edge if overused or overheated, which is why they’re most effective when handled lightly.
What separates The Village Press from other oil brands
The main difference comes down to how the oil is handled between harvest and pressing, and what that does to the final product.
With a lot of commercial olive oil, olives are stored, transported, and then pressed later, sometimes days after picking. That delay matters. Once olives are picked, they start to degrade. The fruit softens, oxidation begins, and the compounds responsible for flavour and aroma start to break down. The result is a flatter oil with less bitterness, less aroma, and a more neutral finish.
The Village Press reduces that gap. Olives are pressed quickly after harvest, which preserves more of those volatile compounds. That’s what gives the oil its greener flavour, its slight bitterness, and that peppery sensation at the back of the throat. Those aren’t flaws. They’re signals that the oil still has structure.
You notice this most clearly when the oil is used raw. Drizzled over food, it doesn’t just add richness. It adds contrast. The bitterness balances sweetness in vegetables, and the peppery finish sharpens the overall dish. In a neutral oil, that layer doesn’t exist.
It also changes how the oil behaves under heat. Fresh, high-polyphenol oil has more character, but those same compounds are sensitive. If you cook it hard or for too long, the distinct flavour drops off quickly. That’s why it works best either in light cooking or added at the end. You’re preserving what makes it different rather than cooking it out.
Many supermarket oils are blends from multiple countries or harvests, designed to taste the same year-round. The Village Press is more tied to a single region and season. That can mean subtle variation, but it also means the oil reflects where and when it was produced instead of being standardised.
Buying notes
Start with the extra virgin olive oil, but choose it with a bit of intent rather than defaulting to one bottle.
The Village Press typically releases oils from different harvests or varieties, and they don’t all behave the same. Some are greener and more peppery, others softer and rounder. If you’re mostly using oil to finish dishes like salads, tomatoes, or bread, go for something described as early harvest or more robust. These have higher polyphenols, which means more bitterness and that peppery finish. That’s what gives you contrast.
If your use is more general, light sautéing, everyday cooking, then a milder or later harvest oil will be easier to live with. It won’t dominate the dish and is more forgiving under heat.
If you’re adding a second product, the walnut oil is the most useful complement, but it needs to be treated differently. It doesn’t handle heat well, so it’s not a cooking oil. Think of it as a finishing ingredient for salads, roasted vegetables like beetroot or pumpkin, or grain dishes where you want a softer, nutty layer instead of something sharp.
Storage matters more with these products than with standard supermarket oils. Keep them away from heat and light, and once opened, aim to use them within a reasonable timeframe. Freshness is part of the value, so there’s no benefit in stretching a bottle for too long.
The main decision is not just what to buy, but how you plan to use it. If your cooking leans toward simple meals where ingredients are exposed, you’ll get more out of a robust oil and a finishing approach. If most of your cooking is heavier or longer, a milder oil will make more sense and be easier to use consistently.
Editor’s take
The Village Press only really pays off if you change how you use oil.
Most people treat oil as background. It goes into the pan, disappears into the dish, and you don’t think about it again. If that’s how you use it, The Village Press won’t feel dramatically different. You’re cooking out the very things that make it distinct. Where it starts to make sense is when you shift it to the end of the process.
A drizzle over roasted vegetables, a finish on pasta, or something as simple as bread and oil. That’s where the flavour actually shows up. The slight bitterness balances sweetness in vegetables. The peppery finish gives the dish a bit of lift. It doesn’t make the food louder, it makes it clearer.
It also forces a bit more intention. You start thinking about when to add it, how much to use, and whether the dish is simple enough for it to matter. That sounds like extra effort, but it usually replaces other steps. You don’t need as many add-ons if the base ingredient is doing more work. The trade-off is that it’s less forgiving. If you cook it hard or bury it under strong flavours, you lose what you paid for. But if you keep things simple and use it at the right moment, even basic food comes out more defined without needing anything extra.
First image source: The Village Press Olive Oil
