Olive Bar
Why an Olive Bar Works
Instant Theatre
An olive bar is one of the most effective ways to drive incremental sales in a deli or farm shop. Self-serve encourages customers to explore, mix varieties, and buy more than they originally planned — turning olives from a planned purchase into a high-value impulse buy.
There’s also real theatre in an olive bar. The colour, aroma, and choice create a focal point in-store, drawing customers in and reinforcing a sense of freshness, abundance, and quality. A well-presented olive bar elevates the entire counter and adds a premium feel with minimal space required.
Our olives are particularly well suited to self-serve. They do not require constant refrigeration during service, making them easy to manage on a busy counter. In warmer conditions, we recommend refrigerating overnight to maintain optimal quality, but day-to-day trading is simple and flexible.
With strong margins, low waste, and proven appeal, an Olives Et Al olive bar is a straightforward way to increase dwell time, boost basket spend, and add theatre to your offering.
How to Olive...
There are several ways to sell from an olive bar. While olives can be served by staff from behind the counter, we generally find that self-serve delivers the strongest results. Customers enjoy the freedom to choose, mix, and control their portion, which typically leads to higher spend and repeat purchases. Pricing by deli pot rather than by weight keeps things simple for both staff and customers. As a guide, many retailers charge around £4 for an 8oz pot and £6 for a 12oz pot, but pricing is entirely at your discretion.
You don’t need a large footprint to get started. A small table with three bowls of olives is more than enough to test the concept, create visual impact, and start generating sales. Once you see which varieties perform best, it’s easy to expand the range or scale the display to suit your space and customer demand.
Clear, well-placed signage is key to making an olive bar work. Simple instructions on how to serve, clear pricing per pot, and a brief description of each olive variety help customers feel confident and encourage them to get involved. Good signage reduces hesitation, speeds up the buying process, and ensures the olive bar remains truly self-serve — all while reinforcing a professional, well-considered display.
Huge thanks to The Hollies Farm Shop for letting us use pictures of their wonderful setup.