How Much Do Olive Wood Cutting Boards Cost? A Straight Answer on Pricing in 2026
- May 14
- 3 min read
If you are shopping for a gift this May — a Mother's Day piece, a spring wedding, a graduation, a closing on a new home — the first question is usually the same. How much should I expect to spend? Olive wood cutting boards sit in a wide price range, and the answer depends on size, thickness, shape, and whether you want a name or date on it. Here is the honest breakdown.
The Real Price Range You'll See
In Canada, handmade olive wood cutting boards generally run between $40 and $250 CAD. That covers most of what serious buyers actually purchase. Below that range, you are usually looking at very small cheese paddles or coasters. Above it, you are into large statement boards, end-grain blocks, or carving boards with juice grooves.
A useful way to think about it:
$40 to $70: Small boards and cheese paddles, roughly 8 to 12 inches. Good for a host gift, a single-serve cheese plate, or a personal kitchen piece.
$80 to $140: Medium [cutting boards](/cutting-boards) in the 14 to 18 inch range. This is the sweet spot for everyday prep, charcuterie, and most wedding or housewarming gifts.
$150 to $250+: Large boards, thicker stock, unusual shapes, or pieces with dramatic live edges. These are centrepiece boards meant to be seen and used for years.
Pricing in this category is not arbitrary. Olive wood grows slowly, and the trees used for boards are typically pruned branches or end-of-life trees from groves in Crete. The wood is dense, the grain is unpredictable, and the yield from a single trunk is small. That is the real reason a 16-inch olive board costs more than a factory-cut maple one.
What Actually Drives the Price
Four things move the number up or down.
Size and thickness. A board twice the size is more than twice the price. Larger pieces need larger raw stock, which is harder to source in olive wood without cracks or voids. Thicker boards — anything past 1 inch — also cost more because they need longer drying time before they can be worked.
Shape and finishing. A simple rectangle is the most affordable. Free-form live-edge boards, paddles with carved handles, and boards with juice grooves take more hands-on time. Ours are shaped in Crete by artisans who have been doing this for decades, then finished and engraved in Oshawa. That two-step process is part of what you are paying for.
Grain and character. Olive wood is famous for its swirling, honey-and-caramel grain. No two pieces are alike, and the boards with the most dramatic patterning often command a small premium. If you want to see your exact piece before it ships, we can send a photo.
Personalization. This is where many shops add a surcharge. On qualifying boards from our shop, [custom engraving is included](/custom-engraving) — names, dates, monograms, a family name, or a company logo. We send a proof before anything is cut, so you can approve the layout. Standard turnaround is 5 to 7 days, and rush requests are usually possible if you ask early.
Is It Worth the Cost?
For a one-time gift that gets used, displayed, and remembered, yes. A good olive wood board outlasts most kitchen gifts by a wide margin. The wood is dense enough to resist deep knife marks, and with simple care — hand wash, dry upright, a wipe of food-safe mineral oil every few weeks — it can stay in rotation for decades. Do not soak it and do not put it in the dishwasher. That is the whole care routine. Our full [care guide](/pages/care-guide) walks through the details if you want them.
Compared to a generic department-store board at $30, an olive wood piece costs more upfront. But the $30 board often ends up warped, stained, or in a closet within a year. An olive board tends to live on the counter. That is the trade-off, and it is the one most of our gift buyers are making — for weddings, fifth anniversaries (the traditional wood anniversary), housewarmings, and real estate closing gifts. If you are pairing the board with a [bowl](/bowls) or [serving tray](/trays-dishes), bundles bring the per-piece cost down.
Ready to see what fits your budget and the moment? [Browse the cutting board collection](/cutting-boards) — sizes, shapes, and prices are all there in one place. If you want a name, date, or logo on it, [custom engraving is included](/custom-engraving) with every qualifying order, and we send a proof before anything is cut.