Why Maslinino ulje?
In the Croatian language, the generic word for olive oil comes from the masculine gender adjective form and the noun oil — maslinovo ulje. However, since the word maslina (olive in Croatian) is a feminine noun, the formation maslinovo ulje is actually a grammatical anomaly, as the correct grammatical logic would be maslinino ulje. Thus, the brand name corrects this grammatical issue and brings the olive oil back to its feminine belonging.
Maslinino ulje is Maslina's oil.
Olive is like a woman.
But as a woman in nature, her true nature.
She chose a place overlooking the sea, where it is resistant to all the bora and sirocco winds,
sturdy through the dark winter, and modest in the hot summer,
She enchants with her beauty and bestows golden oil.
A woman in her nature is like an olive tree. She lives in nature, surrounded by plants, animals, the sea, stones, in the fresh air, under the sun, the moon and the stars. She lives in her nature, and that is why she is her own, strong, resilient and firm, and yet gentle, self-effacing, beautiful and loving.
That woman was once outside of her nature. In the city, in smog and traffic, without sun, light, moon, stars, sea... She wasn't strong enough to be herself, so she couldn't be gentle or loving... But she returned, to where deep down she knew that she belonged, next to the olive tree and the sea, on the island.
That woman is me, born and raised in Zagreb, where I lived until I was 35. In addition to Zagreb, I lived for a while in Vienna, a short period in Germany, and traveled almost all of Europe, but I have always been happiest when I would come to my island of Brač in the summer.
Somehow, deep down, I always knew that this island was my place. My grandmother came to live in Zagreb from Brač when she was young, and I was obviously supposed to return from Zagreb to Brač. And so, thanks to the pandemic and working from home in 2020, I started living on Brač for most of the year. My regional function in the corporation allowed me to do this until 2023, when, with the pandemic status, the possibility of working from home was also abolished, which was my loud call to change my career, in which I had not been happy and fulfilled for a long time. I am not leaving Brač!
And that's when the vision for Olive Oil was born, and after a 12-year career in multinational corporations, I decided to become an entrepreneur on the island.
The olive and its oil are now my calling, and wherever I can, I gather knowledge, experience, and wisdom about this magical plant, and from it itself.
Početkom 2025. godine sam u Vodnjanu završila tečaj za Sommerliera maslinovog ulja, te još dublje zaronila u svijet maslinovog ulja, prepun okusa i mirisa…
Anja Gorup