Roots & Routes began long before it had a name.

Norma Nolly grew up in Mendoza, Argentina, surrounded by vineyards, peach orchards and the rhythms of agricultural life. The land was part of her childhood: the changing seasons, the harvests, the work behind every crop and the understanding that nature never follows a hurried timetable.

Years later, Norma moved to Chile, where she met Gary Lee Leighton. When Gary first visited Mendoza, he was struck by the clean air, the immensity of the mountains and, above all, the potential of its land. From the meeting of two people, two cultures and two families, a shared dream began to take shape.

Thinking about the future and the generations that would follow, Norma and Gary purchased an olive farm covering 45 hectares with approximately 180 trees. They named it Finca Victoria, in honour of their daughter. At that time, it was impossible to know how much the farm would grow or how deeply it would shape the family’s story.

Developing the property required patience and years of work. Norma’s father, Julio César, played an essential role in establishing and caring for the olive grove, working alongside the family and the people whose knowledge and dedication sustained the farm. New trees were planted, the land was developed and the family waited between five and seven years for many of those trees to produce their first fruit. There were difficult seasons, storms and setbacks, but also the quiet satisfaction of watching the grove take root.

Over time, Finca Victoria expanded from 45 to 154 hectares and from approximately 180 olive trees to 12,480. Its groves included Arauco, Arbequina, Frantoio, Pendolino and Manzanilla varieties, each with its own character and purpose. What began as a family project became a lasting education in cultivation, patience, quality and the responsibility that comes with producing from the land.

Norma wanted to understand the product beyond the farm itself. She studied olive cultivation at the Universidad de Chile and continued learning about the varieties, the harvest and the decisions that determine the quality of an oil. The family later built its own processing facility, Olivícola Victoria, equipped with Alfa Laval machinery brought from Italy. Seeing the first emerald green olive oil emerge from fruit grown on their own land was more than a production milestone. It was the moment when years of work became something tangible.

Under the Olivares Mendocinos name, the family produced extra virgin olive oils from individual olive varieties. Norma’s sister Fabiana championed this approach in Mendoza, helping promote oils made from Frantoio, Arbequina, Arauco and Manzanilla at a time when varietal oils were still uncommon in Argentina.

Olivares Mendocinos’ varietal olive oils earned national and international recognition for their quality. At CuyOliva 2009, they received five gold medals, with Manzanilla also recognised as the best varietal for gourmet cuisine. That same year, Olivícola Victoria was selected among eight companies to represent Mendoza at Expo Aceite in Brazil.

This work eventually opened a route beyond Argentina. Through Nuestro Roble, the family sent its first container to the Philippines and introduced Argentine varietal extra virgin olive oils and wines to the hospitality market. The products reached respected hotels and hospitality groups, including The Peninsula Manila, Manila Hotel and City of Dreams. The oils also received awards in Mendoza, including recognition at Cuyo Oliva.

This international chapter taught the family that an exceptional product needs more than quality alone. It needs a clear identity, trust, cultural understanding and the patience to build a place in a new market. Those lessons, learned between the farm, the factory and the hotels of Manila, remain at the heart of Roots & Routes.

Today, Norma and Victoria are carrying that experience into a new generation. Roots & Routes is not an attempt to recreate the past, but to build from it: a Chilean company with a selected South American portfolio, its own future brands and an ambition to create something lasting.

Our dream for the future is to return to the land, have a farm again, cultivate our own ingredients and once more create products that carry our family’s work from their origin into the world. Until then, we are building that future through every product we choose and every brand we develop.

The values we learned along the way continue to guide us: respect for origin, quality and traceability, trust and transparency, reliability, and meaningful connection.