It began as a small-scale project to help Arab farmers sell olive oil in the Israeli market.
In September 2012 olive trees were planted on unused land in the Jezreel Valley between Nazareth and Tel Megiddo in the northern district of Israel using funds provided by the Church of Scotland.
Over a period of ten years, the land has been transformed into a flourishing organ olive grove producing extra virgin olive oil that is now sold all over the world.
The Church of Scotland say the project is a "model of co-operation" between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis.
Two varieties produced by Sindyanna of Galilee in the 'Scottish Grove' have been judged among the best in world.
The Cortina (Extra Positive Olive Oil) and Piqual (Extra Social Olive Oil) scooped silver medals in the highly prestigious and competitive international Ovibeja olive oil competition in Portugal.
READ MORE: Scots farmers slam 'damaging deals' brokered by UK Government
A non-profit organisation led by a team of Arab and Jewish women, it also produces premium food products including honey, almonds and carob syrup while promoting Fair Trade.
The Kirk has a long history in the Middle East and is active in advocating for peace in the region in political and religious arenas.
In addition to St Andrew's Jerusalem and Tiberias Church, which operate as one congregation, the church owns the Scots Hotel in Tiberias, St Andrew's Guesthouse in Jerusalem and Tabeetha School in Jaffa.
READ MORE: Rare plants travel from Glasgow to world-renowned Chelsea Flower Show
Reacting to the awards win, Rev Muriel Pearson, Associate Minister of St Andrew's Jerusalem and Tiberias Church, said: “The Scots Hotel uses Sindyanna Oil exclusively.
“We always knew it was the best and now it has the awards to prove it."
Prior to taking on her current role last year, Ms Pearson was the minister of Cranhill Parish Church in Glasgow for 18 years.
Pilgrim groups from Scotland and elsewhere are encouraged to pay a visit to the non-profit organisation’s factory to learn about its products and meet the women who are working together for social justice and a positive change in Israeli society.
Hadas Lahav, CEO of Sindyanna of Galilee, said: “This marvellous olive grove allows us to promote the modernisation of traditional Arab farming and agriculture by introducing new techniques, irrigation, and olive cultivars.
READ MORE: Scottish farmers seek reassurance over £33m funding pot
“It enables us to aid sustainable cultivation and agriculture, invest all future proceeds of the grove in community projects that promote fair employment for Arab women; and oversee the entire value chain, from field to extra virgin olive oil bottle.”
A plaque erected in the Scottish Grove was dedicated by Very Rev David Arnott, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 2011-12.
It comes as producers and officials have warned that Italy may run out of olive oil in the coming months.
The country’s relatively low harvest and exceptionally poor harvests in Spain and across much of the Mediterranean have resulted in a severe shortage.
Andrea Carrassi, general director of the Italian Association of the Edible Oil Industry (Assitol), said: “If we were a car, our fuel tank light would already be flashing worryingly red."
A drought in Spain halved the country’s production to about 660,000 tons and also took its toll on Portuguese production, widely reducing the overall availability of olive oil on the national and international markets.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here