About American Olive Farmer

A Bit about the Brand

At American Olive Farmer, everything we do begins with care—for the land, for flavor, and for the people we serve. We’re a small Northern California business offering local extra virgin olive oil and freshly harvested olives, produced with intention rather than scale.

Our work is personal and practical, guided by a clear standard: if it isn’t good enough for our own table, we don’t offer it.

While we no longer operate a company-owned olive mill, we partner exclusively with trusted growers, millers, and bottlers who meet our standards and are certified by the Olive Oil Commission of California. We stay close to the orchards that supply our oils and remain involved throughout harvest and evaluation.
→ Read more about the orchards that supply Lucero Olive Oil®

We are also the négociant for premium balsamic vinegars from a small, centuries-old producer in Modena who shares our approach to craft and flavor. → Learn more about how we source and select our vinegars

The gift and landscaping olive trees we offer are propagated by the same nursery we use for our own orchard. 

Liz Tagami

Founder, Steward, and Storyteller

“I came to olive oil as a brand consultant. I stayed because of the trees.”

Liz Tagami brings together business experience, sensory training, and hands-on agricultural work. Before entering the olive oil world, she spent more than 25 years as a senior merchant and executive with national specialty retailers—developing products, building brands, and helping customers bring beauty and pleasure to the table—and moved on to focus on olives for the past 18 years.

She began working with Lucero Olive Oil® in 2008 and became a co-owner in 2015. In 2022—and in the middle of the pandemic—she and her husband Donald relaunched Lucero Olive Oil as part of American Olive Farmer, a direct-to-consumer business centered on premium California extra virgin olive oil and other olive-related products, authentic Modenese balsamic vinegar, and the experience of a well-set table.

Today, Liz serves as steward of both land and customer experience. She coordinates harvests with carefully chosen growers, is converting conventional stone fruit acreage into a regenerative olive orchard, develops products, and writes much of the editorial content for the business.

Her work is grounded in both study and practice. Over the years, she has served on sensory panels and international juries, contributed to industry publications, and spoken in the U.S. and abroad on olive oil quality and appreciation. She continues to evaluate oils each harvest, applying both formal training and lived experience.

Just as important, she brings that knowledge back to the home table—helping customers choose, taste, cook, and enjoy with more confidence and pleasure.

Read more about Liz on LinkedIn. (This link will open in a new tab.)

Donald Shaw

Cook, Craftsman, and Keeper of the Kitchen

Donald is a former catering kitchen manager, restaurant pastry chef, cooking school instructor, and the quietly capable partner behind much of what happens in our kitchen. Liz may shape the editorial direction, but it is Donald’s culinary judgment that informs many of the recipes we share.

When something tastes just right, he’s usually the one who dialed it in. Importantly, the recipes we share are the way we eat at home.

Each autumn, Donald leads our fresh olive packing team, ensuring that hand-harvested local olives are cleaned, sorted, and shipped with care.

His background in food operations and customer experience makes him a steady presence—and a valued contributor across all facets of our work.

Why We Work This Way

Although our operations have evolved since the early Lucero Olive Oil years, our approach remains the same. We are still olive farmers, professional tasters, and working cooks—much more than bottlers, and certainly not marketers at a distance.

Whether we are in the orchard, assessing oils, developing new products, or testing recipes at home, we stay close to the work. That proximity allows us to offer food that tastes considered and true to its origin.

We choose to remain small so we can stay accountable to the land, to our partners, and to the people who cook and give gifts with what we make. → Read what our customers say about cooking with Lucero Olive Oil®

This is a hands-on, husband-and-wife business with a literary and agricultural heartbeat. When you support American Olive Farmer you're not just buying California olive oil, you're supporting a way of working that values time, attention, and integrity in the finished product.

Thank you for taking the time to read about us. Please feel free to call or write to Liz with  questions and comments. Liz@AmericanOlive Farmer.com or 530-727-2004.