My Account
By Isabella Sullivan, Matakana Olive Co-op
Like many agricultural endeavours, producing olive oil has its ups and downs with good and bad years influenced by the whims of the seasons and the volume of fruit grown. In the Mahurangi region, growers strive to produce top quality olive oil, no matter what the seasons bring, but we are affected by the quantity of olives grown and the yield we get from pressing. Thankfully, we face the prospect of potentially a bumper season in our region this year after a rather disappointing year last year, and this is exciting for many reasons.
The olive oil industry in New Zealand is still relatively young with a total production of around 400,000 litres last year (Olive NZ), a long way from meeting the demands of New Zealanders who consume a whopping 4.5 million litres of olive oil annually (Olive NZ). While the Hawkes Bay is the country’s biggest producer of olive oil, Auckland comes immediately second, positioning our local growers among the most efficient.
So New Zealanders are still buying and using mostly imported olive oil, as local olive oil is either not readily available or perceived as an expensive indulgence. We have potential though. More and more NZ olive oil is consistently recognised in international competitions for its uniqueness, gaining not just accolades but, most importantly, building its reputation on an international level. Our little region of Matakana, in particular, has collected several medals and is increasingly being acknowledged by international tourists who often leave with a bottle of local olive oil in their bag.
But according to Olive NZ, our industry is not producing at capacity. Its focus in recent years has been to understand what does and does not work in stone fruit production. What we do know is that New Zealand olive oil can compete with the large international producers where scale, volume and processing ability means they can export olive oil in large quantities and at low cost. New Zealand needs to differentiate its product and, while its industry is growing significantly, the focus must be on producing the very best fresh, quality extra virgin olive oil with a strong emphasis on local origin of production.
While the volume of our fruit production is still low and we live with the seasonal challenges of production, our local growers are slowly raising awareness and consumer interest in the region’s olive oil. At the same time, New Zealand olive oil is cutting a small slice of the international market for itself, as a country of boutique producers with high quality olive oil, not available everywhere but sought after as premium from our clean and green country. Ultimately, increasing the capacity of our region to produce good quality olive oil, while preserving those seasonal natural favours that distinguish our product from the other olive oils, is not just an aspiration but a true possibility.
