South Africa, Riebeek Kasteel, August 2010; LOCATED in the Western Cape’s fertile and picturesque Riebeek Valley, the historic Kloovenburg Wine & Olive Estate has launched a comprehensive range of olive oil-based luxury body products.

Kloovenburg’s olive-entrepreneur, the ever-stylish Annalene du Toit is the driving force behind the farm’s successful olive industry. Respected by her peers both locally and abroad, Annalene has steered over the past decade from what was originally a small ‘kitchen enterprise’ into what is now an impressive and integral part of the Kloovenburg success story.

With her vast experience and research into the humble olive which has seen in recent years the launch of Kloovenburg’s multi-award winning olive oil, a range of olive gourmet products as well as quality salts and spices, Annalene then focused on the haloed olive for its nourishing, moisturising and cleansing properties. This sparked an idea eight years ago and has culminated this month with the launch of a fabulous range of olive oil-based body products that are suitable for both men and women.

The project commenced with Annalene working on creating a bar of superior and natural soap with her award-winning olive oil. After dozens of failed attempts, Annalene finally created the soap that is today the foundation of the Kloovenburg Body Range.

The Kloovenburg Olive Soap is a family favourite in the du Toit household – not only with Annalene, but also with her husband Pieter and their four sons. In fact wine maker Pieter refuses to use any other soap and he goes so far as to use the soap as a shaving cream.

With much encouragement and egging-on from Pieter, Annalene approached cosmetologist James Gibson and set about expanding the Kloovenburg Body Range. Having perfected the olive oil soap herself, Annalene - with the assistance of James, then set their sights on developing an initial and outstanding body butter, body lotion and shower gel for the range.

“As we worked on these three items my imaginations started to run wild. What about making a body and foot scrub too? Before I knew it we had developed all these products including a hand cream, hand wash, and even a heel balm”, says Annalene.

Of the Kloovenburg Body Range, James Gibson comments “Olive Oil is a 100% natural product and the idea was to assist Annalene in developing a range of products that adhere to that ‘naturalness’. We wanted to allow the goodness of the olive oil to work its magic with as little interference as possible.”

Further inspired by a trip to Grasse – Europe’s perfume capital, Annalene was enthused to create a massage oil, a nail and scalp treatment as well as a body and bath oil.

The next challenge for Annalene was the packaging of these superb body products. “My idea was always to keep it simple, and to let the products speak for themselves. It had to look appealing, but I didn’t want the packing to overwhelm, or for that matter detract from what was important – the products themselves”, comments Annalene. “After much trial and error we finally settled on the branding ‘Black, White and Silver’ formula that you see today, which is sleek and simple yet exhudes a subtle sense of panache.”

While visitors to the Riebeek Valley and Kloovenburg Wine & Olive Estate have already discovered the magic of the body range, it is only now that perfectionist Annalene is happy to release the range officially to the public. Careful and thoughtful tweaking of the products has taken place over the past year and the end result is an impressive eighteen (18) unique products that range in price from R19.00 to R71.00.

The idea behind the Kloovenburg Body Range was to create affordable everyday bathroom luxuries and indulgences. “Simply put, these are products that I am using at home for myself and my family anyway, except I have to say that mine are better than anything I have found on the shelves to date”, says a blushing Annalene. “I can honestly say that I no longer buy any other body products”.

For more information on the Kloovenburg Body Range call Annalene du Toit on (27) (22) 448 1635, email info@kloovenburg.com or visit www.kloovenburg.com

EDITOR’S NOTES:
Awards:

• December 2004 – The Kloovenburg 2004 Extra Virgin Olive Oil was voted at a ceremony in Rome as the world’s best certified extra virgin olive oil in the ‘Fruttato Intenso’ category by “L’Extravergine” – a guide to the best certified quality olive oil in the world.
• 2008 – Kloovenburg voted South Africa’s best extra virgin olive oil by Wine magazine.
• February 2009 – Annaline du Toit won the Landbouweekblad and Sanlam Agricultural Female Entrepreneur for 2008/2009 award.
• September 2009 - Gold Medal at the SA Olive Awards & Annalene was named the 2009 ABSA Olive Achiever of the Year by the South African Olive Industry – SA Olive

Kloovenburg Body Product Range Price List (Direct from the Estate):

Lotions & Moisturisers
• Olive Oil Hand Cream 50g - R 54.00
• Olive Oil Heel Balm 50g - R 54.00
• Olive Oil Lip Balm 12ml - R 19.00
• Olive Oil Body Butter 250ml - R 59.00
• Olive Oil Body Lotion 250ml - R 50.00

Scrubs
• Olive Oil Foot Scrub 50g - R 54.00
• Olive Oil Body Exfoliator 250ml - R 45.00

Washes & Shower Gels
• Olive Oil Hand Wash 250ml - R 45.00
• Olive Oil Shower Gel 250ml - R 45.00

Soaps
• Olive Oil Soap – Lavender - R 22.00
• Olive Oil Soap – Geranium - R 22.00
• Soap-on-a-Rope - R 23.00
 

Oils & Treatments
• Olive Oil Relaxing Massage Oil 100ml - R 71.00
• Olive Oil Nail Treatment 10ml - R 44.00
• Olive Oil Scalp Treatment 100ml - R 71.00
• Olive Oil Hypnotic Bath Oil 100ml - R 71.00
• Olive Oil Healing Bath Oil 100ml - R 71.00
• Olive Oil Body Treatment 100ml - R 71.00

ENDS/