Connoisseurs of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar may recognize the Montana Olive Oil Inc. label on bottles sold through the Apple Barrel near Kalispell.

Montana Olive Oil now has its own retail store at the Mountain Mall in Whitefish, where store owner Stu Saye extols the health benefits of the products he sells.

“There are more than 24 anti-inflammatory properties in [extra virgin] olive oil,” he noted. “I haven’t taken any ibuprofen for two years. That’s my body and that’s my story. Everyone’s body is different.”

In addition to selling a wide variety of oils and vinegars, Saye offers private tasting parties for groups of eight to 20 people.

“I have a Bunco group coming in tonight,” he said last Tuesday.

While participants of his tasting parties bring in pastas or salads to eat as they sample the products, Saye gives a PowerPoint presentation aimed at explaining the health benefits of the products.

Mediterranean Diet studies long have linked olive oil consumption with a decreased risk of heart disease, Saye pointed out, noting other benefits such as helping blood pressure. One to two tablespoons is generally the recommended daily intake.

He got into the oil and vinegar distribution business a couple of years ago when a friend of his opened a similar store in Phoenix. Saye, a golf professional, was teaching golf and looking for something different to do with his life. Plus he wanted to get back to his home state of Montana; he grew up in Columbus.

Saye also has a background in the restaurant business and once owned a supper club in Wyoming.

Starting a food specialty business seemed like a natural extension of his interests, he said.

He gets his products, which are private-labeled with the Montana Olive Oil Inc. name, from an Arizona supplier called The Olive and the Grape.

“They do the buying from Europe,” he said.

The traditional aged balsamic vinegar — the highest 25-star rated balsamic — is imported from Modena, Italy, and the olive oils come from Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Mexico and California.

The infused flavors range from the popular Persian lime and blood orange olive oils to cranberry-pear or garlic cilantro balsamics. Some oil flavors are infused overseas while many are hand-crafted at The Olive and the Grape’s Arizona plant.

Saye wanted to put down roots in the Flathead Valley, and in Whitefish specifically, so he made arrangements with the Apple Barrel a year and a half ago to sell the oils and vinegars on consignment through that food specialty store. He helped operate Apple Barrel’s seasonal store at Kalispell Center Mall during the holidays.

Montana Olive Oil Inc. products will continue to be sold at the Apple Barrel and also are available at Sykes’ Market in Kalispell, The Spa at Meadow Lake in Columbia Falls and Baker Street Kitchen in Bozeman. Saye is working to develop an outlet in Bigfork.

North Bay Grille in Kalispell uses Montana Olive Oil products.

Stores specializing in oils and vinegars have been a growing retail trend in the specialty food market in recent years. Even though Whitefish already has an oil and vinegar store, Genesis Kitchen, Saye said he believes there’s room enough for both businesses in the resort town.

Montana Olive Oil also has an assortment of other products that set the store apart, Saye noted. He sells Three Farmers camelina oil produced in Canada. Three Farmers is a small, Saskatchewan-based group of farmers who grow camelina, an ancient oil seed.

The store also carries avocado oils, smoked meat products from Chalet Market in Belgrade, Gourmet Texas Pasta and a line of handmade pastas from Arizona.

Store hours are noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information call 407-0296 or email Saye at montanaolivekal@gmail.com.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.