Olive Mill Water Company Launches Beverage Made From Olive Oil By-Product Being Called the Next Superfood

For decades, an olive by‑product was discarded as waste. Now it’s being called a superfood, and consumers can finally access it.

ALBERT PARK, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, August 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A long-neglected food ingredient is rapidly emerging as one of the most exciting in food science today. Olive mill wastewater (OMWW), a by-product of olive oil production, has been treated as waste for as long as olive oil has existed. In recent years, however, scientists have begun examining this liquid for its unusually high concentration of bioactive antioxidants and polyphenols, particularly hydroxytyrosol, one of the most talked-about antioxidants found in nature.

A 2024 study published in International Journal of Pharmaceutics described OMWW as a "smart antioxidant material," highlighting it as a reservoir of bioactive compounds worth capturing rather than discarding. It's part of a broader wave of research into the compounds found in OMWW — research that's even led some scientists to call it a superfood, with one physician noting it's packed with antioxidants and bioactive compounds that never make it into the oil itself. This growing body of work spans a breadth of areas that's uncommon for a single natural material, including:

Inflammation
Oxidative Stress
Cardiometabolic Markers
Cellular Protection
Mitochondrial Function
Gut Microbiology
Immune Signalling
Brain Health and Neuroprotection

Despite this research interest, olive oil producers have historically discarded OMWW rather than put it to human-facing use. That gap between the science and the shelf is what inspired the founding of The Olive Mill Water Company, which recently bottled the ingredient as a polyphenol-rich beverage, marking the first time globally that this material has been made available as a consumer beverage.

"Few natural ingredients have been studied across so many health-related areas, yet remained largely inaccessible to consumers," says Chris Plazzer, founder of The Olive Mill Water Company. "We think that's about to change."

What makes Olive Mill Water compelling as a beverage is how its composition differs from olive oil itself. Drawn from the water portion of the olive rather than the oil, it carries the fruit's antioxidant profile — testing shows up to ten times the concentration found in olive oil — without any of the oil's fat or energy content.

"People assume you need the oil to get the benefits of the olive, but it's actually the water, not the oil," said Plazzer. "That's where a huge concentration of the polyphenols end up. You get the antioxidant profile without the oil's fat."

Product Details
Olive Mill Water is a single-ingredient beverage — no additives, sweeteners, extracts, or stimulants. Just 100% fermented olive mill water, in a 300ml bottle.

About The Olive Mill Water Company
The Olive Mill Water Company was founded in 2024 by Chris Plazzer, a former accountant who left his secure role to start one of Australia’s first online wine stores in 1999. He exited that business in 2023 to pursue the development of Olive Mill Water, a new functional beverage category built around one of the most researched yet overlooked ingredients in modern nutrition. The company was selected for RMIT’s [Re]Launch program for emerging start-ups.

Chris Plazzer
The Olive Mill Water Company
email us here