A British couple who escaped Britain’s cost-of-living crisis by buying a 110-acre farm in the Italian countryside to start their own olive oil business have revealed their shock at how difficult it is to run a farm in a foreign country.
Lucy Davidson, 27, and Gerry O’Shea, 29, bought the historic Pitino Agricolo farm in the Le Marche area of London for €160,000 (around £136,000) nearly two years ago after feeling frustrated by the ‘expensive property ladder’. .
But the pair, who had no previous farming experience, have now revealed they are at a ‘make or break moment’ after a disappointing first year of sales.
Ms Davidson and Mr O’Shea said the journey had caused a ‘steep learning curve’ and ‘incredible stress’.
Despite the long days and sleepless nights, they have sold just £8,200 worth of olive oil this year, and if they don’t sell more it is ‘hard to see us continuing to make oil’.
Gerry O’Shea, 29, (left) and Lucy Davidson, 27, (right) bought their historic Pitino Agricolo farm in Italy’s Le Marche region almost two years ago to escape the cost-of-living crisis in Britain. They’ve started an olive oil business, but say it’s ‘make or break right now’.
Mrs Davidson, of Streatham, south London, (pictured leaning towards the farm) explained how they would spend ‘physically demanding’ days of labor on the farm, followed by ‘mentally demanding’ evenings where they would focus on business and marketing.
Kent’s Mr O’Shea said the biggest ‘difficulty’ was getting people to taste their products. He said it was going to be difficult to ‘sell oil and stay afloat’. Mr O’Shea was spotted selling Pitino Agricolo olive oil at Clapham’s Van Street Market earlier this month.
Ms Davidson, from Streatham, south London, and Mr O’Shea, from Kent, met while doing their politics PhDs at Cambridge University. The couple decided to leave the capital after soaring property prices left them with the prospect of spending almost half a million pounds ‘living in a box’.
They looked for flats in the trendy Brixton, Bermondsey and Camberwell neighbourhoods, but quickly learned that the cost-of-living crisis left them with fewer options than they liked.
UK couple leave capital to buy 110-acre farm without electricity or water: Read more
Having decided to flee London after discovering a healthy budget of £450,000 left them with little viable option, opting instead to buy the Pitino Agricolo farm outright in May 2021.
The couple, using their savings and a loan from Mr O’Shea’s parents, settled on a price of €200,000 (around £170,000) after negotiating and receiving €40,000.
Mr O’Shea and Ms Davidson moved to Italy permanently in January last year and plunged straight into their farming venture – but it was not without trials and tribulations.
They first learned how to care for the 80 existing olive trees and then read academic papers, watched YouTube videos and learned how to make olive oil to help neighbors.
Now the couple have planted around 2,000 new trees and started selling their extra virgin olive oil online and to UK buyers and markets.
Mr O’Shea, who was selling his oils at Clapham’s Vane Street Market earlier this month, told MailOnline the biggest ‘difficulty’ was getting people to taste his product.
But despite their problems, the couple insist they ‘don’t want to do anything else’.
‘Ninety per cent of people in the market who come to use it will buy it, but it’s hard to get people in the UK to try and buy it,’ he explains, adding that Britain has ‘a lot of cheap olive oil’. , but ‘good quality, early harvest’ oil is not the same as the type they produce.
The couple explained that Italy’s Le Marche region has the most recognized autochthonous olive varieties of any region in the world, but noted that most of the oil cultivated there remains in the country.
Mr O’Shea said he wanted to ‘continue to make what I think is the best oil in the world’ but claimed they were under ‘incredible pressure because we have so much oil we have to sell’. The couple’s oil is pictured above
The couple planted around 2,000 new trees and began selling their extra virgin olive oil both online and in UK shops and markets. They raised money for the planting using a crowdfunder which received £9,000 in donations. Photo: An olive tree at the Pitino Agricolo farm
Mr O’Shea (pictured tending to olive trees) said: ‘We thought people in the UK were learning to love and appreciate olive oil and thought there was room in the market – which there is – but we didn’t think right. That we don’t have time to farm and sell in the UK. This year is a test of whether we can sell in the UK or sell locally in Italy’.
Their food market research indicated that there was ‘quite a buzz around independent food markets and quality produce’ in the UK, so the pair felt the time was ‘right’ to enter the UK olive oil market.
‘I want to make what I think is the best oil in the world,’ Mr O’Shea said. ‘But the early years are tough. It will be difficult to sell oil and stay afloat.
‘It’s optimistic because people like oil and the deals are coming, but it’s an incredible pressure because we have so much oil that we have to sell. It’s make or break right now. If we don’t sell oil this year, it’s hard to see us continuing to produce oil.’
Ms Davidson, who is still in the process of completing her PhD, added that the couple is trying to run a farm, oil business and online tutoring business they launched during the Covid lockdown to help pay the bills.
‘The work never stops,’ he says, describing how they spend days of ‘physically demanding’ labor on the farm, followed by ‘mentally demanding’ evenings where they focus on business and marketing.
‘It’s very hard and you really have to teach yourself,’ Ms Davidson said of the business. ‘It’s just a steep learning curve bringing a new project to market in an already saturated market. But the low is also the greatest high.’
Mr O’Shea, who completed his PhD last November, added: ‘We thought people in the UK were learning to love and appreciate olive oil and thought there was room in the market – which there is – but we didn’t think right. That we don’t have time to farm and sell in the UK.
‘This year is a test of whether we can sell in the UK or sell locally in Italy.’
The couple also cites the low cost of living in Le Marche as a big reason they are able to advance their farming venture. Their Pitino Agricolo farm is shown above
Ms Davidson added that the couple had built a ‘godsend’ greenhouse which allowed them to be relatively ‘self-sufficient for food’. They grow many of their own vegetables and have a chicken coop where they collect fresh eggs. Their greenhouses and crops are depicted
Mr O’Shea is pictured with the olive harvest
Mr O’Shea and Ms Davidson are selling their olive oil in the UK. Their product is pictured on the shelf at London’s Panzer deli
The couple also noted that the low cost of living in Le Marche was a big reason they were able to move forward with their farming venture.
‘We’re lucky the rent here is cheap, which makes it possible and the cost of living here is very low,’ Mr O’Shea said. ‘Without our cheap cost of living and businesses we would be underwater.’
Ms Davidson added that the couple had built a ‘godsend’ greenhouse which allowed them to be relatively ‘self-sufficient for food’. They grow many of their own vegetables and have a chicken coop where they collect fresh eggs.
Despite the struggles that plague the olive oil market and the industry, Ms Davidson and Mr O’Shea are optimistic about expanding their business in the near future.
Leading oil brands have seen prices rise by more than 23 per cent in the past year and bosses have declared the industry is in ‘crisis’. Photo: Pitino Agricolo Farm
Despite the struggles that plague the olive oil market and the industry, Ms Davidson and Mr O’Shea are optimistic about expanding their business in the near future. Their extra virgin olive oil is pictured above
The couple wants to renovate the dilapidated farmhouse on the property and rent it out on AirBnB for luxury farm stays. None of the homes on the property are currently in habitable condition. Photo: A dilapidated structure at the Pitino Agricolo farm
‘We put our heart and soul into this product,’ said Ms Davidson. ‘We are putting regions on the map that are not well known – everyone knows the Champagne region of France but we want people to know the Le Marche region of Italy.
‘We don’t want to do anything else. We are our own bosses and business is very important to sustain this lifestyle.’
They want to make wine and other farm-to-table specialty products, such as truffles. They launched another crowdfunder to plant oak trees that allow them to grow and sell truffles.
‘The valley is better for truffles which makes more sense economically,’ said Ms Davidson, adding that they hope to send truffles to their donors in five to six years. ‘We’re also doing wine, but it’s not ready yet. Hopefully it will be ready in the next few years.’
The couple’s other goal is to renovate the dilapidated farmhouse on the property and rent it out on AirBnB for luxury farm stays. None of the homes on the property are currently in habitable condition.
Ms Davidson said building plans were in the works, but ‘things are a bit slow’. They hope to begin construction next year so they can move forward with the hospitality side of their business and start hosting guests.
Ms Davidson said building plans were in the works, but ‘things are a bit slow’. They hope to begin construction next year so they can move forward with the hospitality side of their business and start hosting guests. The couple is photographed together on their farm
They are trying to restore an old lake bed that will be ‘really important’ to their environmental initiatives and sustainability. They want to use the beds to water olives and truffles, as well as ‘bring the history of the farm to life’. Mr O’Shea is seen tending to the farm
They are trying to restore an old lake bed that will be ‘really important’ to their environmental initiatives and sustainability. They want to use the beds to water olives and truffles, as well as ‘bring the history of the farm to life’.
Last year, the pair sold around £6,000 worth of oil, but noted they were able to plant lots of new trees through a ‘successful’ crowdfunder which raised around £9,000.
They have already surpassed last year’s sales, at around £4,000, after selling around five per cent of their oil to Panzer Deli, which has multiple shops in London.
They sold around £1,200 at Van Street Market and £3,000 selling direct to customers on their website.
The couple added that they gave a bottle of olive oil from their harvest to those who donated to their crowdfunder and intend to do so again next year.