Origin Story

It is said that the ability to salt food properly is the single most important skill in cooking. Salt opens up flavours, making food tastes more like itself. Salt is essential to good health and ultimately life. Today, we want to share with you a little of why we love Olsson’s Salt, Australia’s oldest family-owned and operated salt company.

The Olsson’s Salt origin story starts in 1948 when Norman Olsson and his two sons, Charles and Malcolm began producing pressed mineral salt blocks as cattle and sheep supplements to nourish them during drought. In the 1970s, the company then began providing surplus salt for use in food manufacturing. Steady expansion followed and in 2012, it started selling salt flakes under the Olsson’s name.

Location Matters

The pristine waters of the Spencer Gulf provide the raw material needed to make Australia’s best sea salt. Over 300 days of sunshine every year makes the solar evaporation method of producing salt the only logical – and most natural - choice. With no chemical processes involved, Olsson’s salt is perfectly natural.
Their second salt works near Rockhampton, QLD captures the unspoiled waters of the nearby Great Barrier Reef to produce a sea salt rich in marine minerals.

Seawater + Sun + Wind = Salt

Solar salt is produced by the action of sun and wind on large seawater ponds. The seawater evaporates in successive ponds until fully concentrated, at which time the salt crystallizes on the floor of the pond. Dependent on the whim of the weather gods, this process can take between eight to 18 months. It is then scooped up, washed in seawater, dried and packaged. This straightforward process ensures the salt retains its trace minerals (iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc and iodine), meaning it is not only good for you but it also tastes amazing.

Explore the range

While salt is found in every kitchen, we don’t need to tell you that quality varies. Highly refined salts because they’ve been stripped clean just tend to taste It’s very one-note, bland, and just salty. That’s why we recommend using great salt in your cooking and food preparation.
From the classic Sea Salt Flakes with their bright, clear taste to the Redgum Smoked Salt, the Rare Dry Gin Salt with nuanced botanicals and ocean-tasting ‘sel gris’ and the seductive Truffle Salt, Olsson’s has something for every occasion.

photo credit: Olsson's Salt