A Goizueta MBA alumna draws on culture, storytelling, and strategy to reimagine olive oil through her venture, Olive Oil Flights.
For Claudia Hanna Veysel 02MBA, olive oil has never been a background ingredient. Long before it became the foundation of a business, it was a language — one learned at the kitchen table, shaped by culture, and refined through years of teaching, storytelling, and immersion in the Mediterranean.
Her venture, Olive Oil Flights, brings fresh, extra virgin olive oils from small family producers across the Mediterranean directly to consumers in curated tasting sets, inviting people to experience olive oil the way they might approach wine. But the idea didn’t arrive fully formed. It emerged at the intersection of food, education, and a realization that something essential was missing from the U.S. olive oil market.
“It began in the kitchen with two Mediterranean mothers — my Egyptian-Greek mother and my Cypriot mother-in-law — who taught me that olive oil was not just an afterthought, but the heart of the meal,” Hanna Veysel says. “It’s not just an ingredient, it’s culture, tradition, and flavor shaped by the place.”
Over time, that foundation expanded into multiple pursuits: teaching Mediterranean cooking, becoming an olive oil sommelier, and hosting conversations about food and culture through her American Public Television podcast, If This Food Could Talk. Living in Cyprus and spending time among olive groves deepened her understanding even further — and sharpened her perspective on what most American consumers were missing.
“After a career in management consulting and finance, I realized I wanted to build businesses and expand on my passions,” she says. “I noticed a problem with the olive oils in U.S. supermarkets: they were stale, one-note, and lacked the culture and tradition that can be very easily tasted in fresh, extra virgin olive oils.”
Reframing Olive Oil as an Experience
Across her work in food education and media, Hanna Veysel kept encountering the same disconnect. In the Mediterranean, olive oil is expressive and deeply tied to place; in the U.S., it is often treated as a generic commodity.
“In the U.S., most supermarket olive oils tell only one story: flat and greasy,” she says. “Fresh olive oil should taste like the fruit itself.”
Olive Oil Flights was designed as a response to that gap. By offering curated sets of three oils meant to be tasted side by side, the company encourages people to explore varietals, terroir*, and pairing — and to build confidence in how they cook with oil every day.
“I want the average consumer to be able to say they want a Greek Koroneiki to top their green salads or a Croatian Bianchera drizzled on their seafood,” she says.
What began as a passion project quickly revealed itself as a mission that tied together everything she had been building toward — even if it didn’t feel that way at first.
“What’s surprised me most is how every seemingly separate part of my career wasn’t actually separate at all,” Hanna Veysel says. “Launching Olive Oil Flights revealed they were all building toward the same mission: elevating olive oil from a pantry staple to something people experience intentionally.”
Turning Passion Into a Business
While the product is sensory and story-driven, building the business required discipline, structure, and clarity — skills Hanna Veysel credits in part to her time at Goizueta Business School.
“Goizueta gave me the tools to turn passion into a real business,” she says. Her Entrepreneurship course with Charlie Goetz helped her narrow a broad interest into a clear market opportunity. Professor Jagdish Sheth’s Marketing Strategy class sharpened her focus on differentiation.
“I’m not just selling olive oil,” she explains. “I’m repositioning it the way wine repositioned and revolutionized grapes in the 1970s — by varietal, terroir, and pairing.”
Equally important has been the Goizueta network itself. Some of her earliest customers were classmates who believed in the idea from the beginning, and fellow alumni continue to serve as sounding boards.
“There’s this genuine culture at Goizueta of looking out for one another,” she says. “I am both honored and privileged to call myself a Goizueta alumna.”
Building With Values at the Center
From the outset, Hanna Veysel was clear about what Olive Oil Flights would — and would not — be. Working directly with producers was non-negotiable, as was supporting sustainability and women working in agriculture.
“I didn’t wish to deal with distributors or middlemen taking farmers’ profits and peddling less than fresh product,” she says. As a board member of Women in Olive Oil, she is especially committed to elevating female producers whose labor often goes unseen.
“Supporting female farmers in particular reflects the women who shaped my own understanding of food — my mother and mother-in-law,” she says. “This is my way of giving back and supporting these hardworking women.”
As Olive Oil Flights continues to grow, Hanna Veysel is focused on deepening both the product and the educational experience — expanding tasting resources, highlighting producers, and exploring broader retail and wholesale opportunities.
“I want Olive Oil Flights to change how people think of olive oil in their everyday cooking,” she says. “I want more people to enjoy freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil and learn about the varietals and how to cook with them to elevate food pairings.”
For Hanna Veysel, the throughline is simple: curiosity, connection, and the courage to take a leap before feeling fully ready.
“If you’re considering turning a passion into a business, my biggest advice is to be willing to take a leap even if you do not feel completely ready,” she says. “Don’t underestimate relationships: Stay close with your college friends and mentors. Those connections matter more than you realize in the long run.”
Goizueta’s Full-Time MBA equips students to turn passion into purpose-driven ventures. Learn more about the Two-Year MBA program.
*Terroir: the unique, localized environmental factors — including soil composition, climate, altitude, and geography — that shape the distinct aroma, flavor, and chemical profile of the oil
