The White Bottle That Started It All

How one simple insight changed the future of Neolea

Sometimes, the most important decisions a company makes aren’t about creating something new. They’re about having the courage to leave something behind.

After more than a decade, we’ve decided to say goodbye to the white glass bottle that introduced thousands of people to Neolea. For many of you, it became part of your kitchen. It travelled across dinner tables, gift boxes and grocery shelves. It helped us share our Greek extra virgin olive oil with people around the world and will always remain an important part of our story.

But over the past few years, something changed. We realized we weren’t just building an olive oil brand anymore. We were rethinking how people experience olive oil.

Great olive oil shouldn’t require expertise

When Neolea started in 2014, our mission was simple: make exceptional olive oil more accessible.

As we grew, we spent countless hours talking to shoppers, retailers, chefs and buyers across Europe and the United States. Again and again, we heard the same thing. People wanted better olive oil. They just didn’t know how to choose it. Should I cook with extra virgin olive oil? Should I save it for salads? Why are there so many different bottles, yet so little clarity?

The problem wasn’t quality. The problem was confidence.

We realized the category had become increasingly premium, but not necessarily easier to understand. If we truly believe everyone deserves the opportunity to experience exceptional olive oil, then our job isn’t to create experts. Our job is to create confidence. 

That insight changed everything

We didn’t set out to create another olive oil. We set out to remove the barriers that prevent people from experiencing exceptional olive oil. Because we believe great products shouldn’t become more exclusive as they get better. They should become easier to discover, easier to trust and easier to enjoy. 

Instead of asking people to understand olive varieties, harvest dates or technical tasting notes, we asked ourselves a much simpler question.

What are you cooking today?

The answer became Pan & Plate.

One bottle for cooking.
One bottle for finishing.

That’s it. No unnecessary complexity. No intimidating terminology.

Just two exceptional extra virgin olive oils, each selected for the moment where it performs best. Simple enough to understand in seconds. Good enough to enjoy for years.

The response has exceeded even our own expectations.

Within just one year, Pan & Plate has grown into a product now available in more than 1,000 stores across the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Today, you’ll find Pan & Plate on the shelves of retailers including Target, The Fresh Market and Ocado — proof that leading retailers believe exceptional olive oil can also be intuitive, approachable and made for everyday life.

More importantly, consumers are embracing it. That gives us confidence that simplifying olive oil isn’t just a better idea. It’s the future of the category.

A new bottle with a bigger purpose

The move to aluminium wasn’t driven by design alone. It was driven by the same philosophy. If freshness matters, our packaging should protect it. If sustainability matters, our packaging should reduce unnecessary weight and lower transport emissions. If everyday cooking matters, the bottle should be lighter, easier to use and more enjoyable to cook with. Every decision—from our single-origin Greek Koroneiki olives to bottling at origin and choosing lightweight aluminium—serves one purpose:

To protect exceptional olive oil until the very moment you pour it.

What hasn’t changed?

While the bottle looks different, the principles behind Neolea haven’t changed at all. We still source exclusively from the same family-operated mills in Greece. We still bottle at origin. We still obsess over freshness. We still believe transparency is more powerful than marketing claims. We still believe exceptional quality should never be compromised in pursuit of growth. And we still believe exceptional olive oil should become part of everyday life, not something reserved for special occasions or food experts. 

Looking ahead

Saying goodbye to our white bottle is emotional. It represents where Neolea began. But Pan & Plate represents where we believe olive oil is going. Because we don’t believe better olive oil should belong to a small group of enthusiasts. We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to experience exceptional olive oil. 

To everyone who has cooked with us, gifted us, shared us around the table or simply chosen Neolea from the shelf over the past twelve years:

Thank you. You helped build the brand we are today. The white bottle told the story of where Neolea came from. Pan & Plate tells the story of where we’re going. And we’re only just getting started.

With gratitude,

Bart Jan Manten
Founder

Daan Tolk
Chief Executive Officer