As the Embassy of Portugal held a special concert at the Singapore Botanic Gardens on Saturday, 13 June, several local businesses with connections to Portugal set up booths to showcase their products.
One such company, Aurevia, stood out for both the fascinating story behind its founding and the quality of its flagship product, an extra virgin olive oil called Metáfora.
Aurevia founder Louie Chong spoke with Diplomatic Network (Asia), sharing the remarkable origins of his company and explaining the detailed processes that make Aurevia’s olive oil exceptionally pure and healthy.
The Origins of Aurevia
Aurevia, meaning “Golden Way” in Latin, represents the pursuit of a valuable and meaningful path.
Mr Chong recounted the serendipitous origins of Aurevia, a straightforward yet fascinating story of curiosity meeting commercial opportunity.
While on a family vacation in Porto, Portugal, Mr Chong was impressed by a bottle of Metáfora extra virgin olive oil served during a meal. In an inspired move, he traced the source of the olive oil to a third-generation family-owned grove in the Trás-os-Montes countryside.
Impressed by what he discovered, Mr Chong was determined to share the experience with consumers in Asia. Aurevia was founded to simplify the purchase and delivery of Metáfora olive oil throughout the region.
What began as four bottles brought back to Singapore has since evolved into a growing business. Recently, Aurevia entered into a partnership with the Embassy of Portugal in Singapore.
As both countries continue to strengthen ties through the Singapore-Portugal Innovation Alliance (SPIA), it is encouraging to see small businesses such as Aurevia benefiting from this growing bilateral relationship.
Making the Golden Type of Olive Oil
“Good tasting and not healthy is pointless,” stated Mr Chong to DNA as he outlined his philosophy on healthy food.
In pursuing this “golden way” of balancing flavour and health benefits, Metáfora appears to pass the test with flying colours.
Metáfora is a premium olive oil with less than 0.2% acidity. This places it well below the European Union threshold of 0.8% acidity required to qualify as extra virgin olive oil.
The secret to this purity lies in the care taken throughout the harvesting and bottling process.
Metáfora is harvested by hand from olive trees that are over 1,000 years old. Part of its rarity stems from the fact that olives are harvested only once each year, with the most recent harvest taking place in November 2025.
The olives are then cold-pressed within two hours of harvesting to preserve their freshness.
Unlike many commercial olive oils, Metáfora does not undergo conventional filtering, as this process can remove naturally occurring compounds found within the oil. Instead, it undergoes the more time-consuming process of natural decanting in storage tanks. This additional effort helps preserve the oil’s purity.
Metáfora bottles are also distinctively opaque. Mr Chong explained that this is an intentional choice, as exposure to light and heat accelerates oxidation. As a result, quality producers often avoid transparent bottles in order to better preserve freshness.
DNA writer, Euan Toh Yu-Yuan, sampled Metáfora during the event and found it to possess a bright and ripe flavour profile. A peppery finish emerges after a few seconds, creating a distinctive aftertaste.
Purchasing Metáfora
Potential buyers of Metáfora can contact Aurevia through this link to enter their waitlist.
The November 2025 harvest will only be bottled in July 2026.
The grove is expected to produce only 7,000 bottles worldwide, of which approximately 200 will be allocated to Asia. Interested buyers are therefore encouraged to join the waitlist as early as possible.
