By Kevin Coughlin
They say blood is thicker than water.
That goes for olive oil, too. At least, it does for Tim and Soraya Balshi, the couple who own the new Seasons Olive Oil & Vinegar Taproom in Morristown.
“It’s is our passion. It’s what we love, what we’re good at,” Tim said on Friday, at the shop’s ribbon-cutting.
Their calling truly is a family affair, with roots that stretch back at least three generations in Soraya’s hometown of Jaén, Spain.
Her grandfather had an olive grove, and her father grew the business, with a mill that still churns out the couple’s popular Family Reserve brand every October.
Customers who visit Seasons at 43 South St. can sample and buy 10 types of imported olive oil, plus 25 blends “infused” with orange, lemon and other surprises.
It’s “the very highest quality product possible,” promised Tim, who met his wife in 1994 when they were high school seniors.
(Cue Spanish guitar.)
Soraya was an exchange student at Tim’s school in Bethlehem, Pa.
When Tim went to King’s College to major in business, he made sure to study in Madrid for a year. Meanwhile, Soraya was earning a law degree in Europe.
Then they moved to New York, where Tim worked for Christie’s auction house and Soraya got a job with a global metal trading company.
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
After their marriage in 2001, the couple returned to Spain… where they got hooked by Soraya’s family enterprise.
Now they own retail shops in Bethlehem and Lancaster, Pa., and in Annapolis and Bethesda, Md., in addition to Morristown.
But the biggest portion of their business is on the wholesale side, via their company Millpress Imports.
Over the years, customers have included the former C’est Cheese in Morristown, Gary’s Wine & Marketplace in Madison, Zabar’s in New York, and many restaurants in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago and Miami, Tim said.
They have had their eye on Morristown for a long while.
“Lots of customers at our Bethlehem store used to ask us to open a store in Morristown. It came up many times, and now we finally had an opportunity to come here,” Tim said.
Their daughters Ana, 11, and Chloe, 6, helped Soraya set up the shop last November. Soraya likes Morristown so far.
“There are a lot of young families. It’s very family oriented,” she observed. “It’s a city that is alive. A lot of things are going on.”
Morristown is happy to have Seasons, too, Mayor Tim Dougherty said at the ribbon-cutting, also attended by members of the Morristown Partnership.
“This is exactly what we want in town,” Dougherty said, eyeing all the varieties of olive oil.
“Cooking is an art. This will definitely make my cooking better,” he added, noting that steak and garlic shrimp are his specialties.
And olive oil, used in moderation, is good for you. It contains healthy fats that may lower your risk of heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The biggest risk to Seasons’ health is political. The Balshis are hoping President Trump does not push through new import tariffs.
“It would really hurt our business,” Tim said. “I hope it never passes.”
Best of luck to them and their business!