BROOKFIELD, Wis. — For Josh Saiia, the story of Oro di Oliva began with a scent and a single taste. Nearly two decades ago, a man handed Saiia a sample of fresh olive oil.

“So, I humored him,” said Saiia. “I didn’t think there would be a difference. What could he teach me? I was in my early 30s. I tasted olive oil before, but he said it was going to be grassy and then have some spice to it and some pepper in the back of my throat.”

That taste changed everything. Within a month, Saiia was in California visiting small olive growers to learn the art of cultivating and handling fresh olive oil.

By 2006, he had opened his first kiosk at Brookfield Square Mall.

He wanted to create a space where customers could fully experience the difference in quality by tasting it for themselves.

“People come in and say, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never tasted anything like this,’” Saiia said. “We had a culinary student come in and say, ‘I tasted five or six things, and I never tasted before, and I thought I tasted everything.’ To me, that’s a reward.”

Today, Oro di Oliva operates two locations—in Brookfield and Milwaukee’s Public Market—offering a selection of extra-virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars from around the world.

“It’s not always Italy,” said Saiia. “Sometimes we have an oil in from Italy but a lot of our extra virgin olive oils come from Spain. We also source from Chile, Australia and South Africa.”

The business also gets orders from across the country.

“It’s such a joy to see oils going all over the country, east and west coast,” said Saiia. “I never thought that would happen from a little store here in the Milwaukee area."