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Coles and Woolworths are resisting pressure to comply with recommended labelling standards for extra virgin olive oil.   The new guidelines were introduced this year to reduce the amount of refined oils being sold as 'premium' or 'extra light'.   President of the Australian Olive Association, Paul Miller, says Aldi supermarkets are already using the [...]

  A CURIOSITY over old olive trees growing on historic farms has turned into gold for a northeast couple. Over the past 20 years Eberhard Kunze and Maureen Titcumb have propagated tens of thousands of olive saplings to save old genetic stock.   This year, oil from their priola trees, a variety they discovered and named, [...]

  Ambrosia Olive Farm owners Dawn and Steve Skarmoutsos brought their passion for olive growing from Greece. What does Ambrosia Olive Farm produce? The organic farm is family-run by my husband Steve and I, and we produce table olives, preserved and marinated olives, olive oil and olive-based skincare products named Eleon Cosmetics that include creams, [...]

A rural Industries Research Development Corporation study has shown that olive growers can reduce their irrigation without sacrificing yield. The study also suggests the characteristics of the olives are not affected by reducing water volumes. The study, Olive Crop Management for Optimal Sensory and Chemical Quality Project, was carried out over four years at a [...]

The administrator for failed agribusiness giant Timbercorp has been given approval by the Victorian Supreme Court to apply to wind up the company’s olive and almond schemes. KordaMentha wants to end the schemes to make it easier to sell the 13 almond projects and 11 olive groves in northern Victoria. Spokesman Michael Smith says a [...]

By Kim Woods, Harvest, which began in mid-April, is wrapping up after severe frosts last week. Wagga Wagga, in NSW, is home to about 55,000 trees owned by investment companies and small growers. The Riverina Olive Growers Association has 45 active members picking fruit from up to 30,000 trees. Association secretary Vici Murdoch said unseasonal [...]

The Australian Olive Association (AOA) is celebrating a welcomed boost after the Federal Government confirmed a $200,000 grant, which will enable the AOA to develop a high-profile marketing campaign to promote Australian extra virgin olive oil and table olives. The funding, announced by Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke, is part of a $2 million wider [...]

The administrators of troubled agricultural projects manager Timbercorp say they have not yet determined if the company’s forestry projects are still viable, or insolvent like its olive and almonds projects. Timbercorp was placed in administration in April, with liabilities estimated at the time of $930 million. Mark Korda of administrator KordaMentha said on Thursday that [...]

The Australian olive oil industry is teaming up with the United States to develop a new set of international olive oil standards. Dr Rodney Mailer, from the Australian Oils Research Laboratory, says the European International Olive Council’s standards are too restrictive and treat unique aspects of Australian oils as negative traits. He says Australian producers [...]

The Australian Olive Association says the demise of orchard managers Timbercorp and Great Southern does not spell the end of the olive industry. Managed investment schemes account for the majority of Australian olive production, and sparked the industry’s rapid growth over the past decade. The Olive Association’s Paul Miller says the industry is now big [...]

By Sandra Godwin, The Boundary Bend olive harvest was under way this week after a halt caused by Timbercorp‘s financial woes. After a three-day shutdown, workers at Timbercorp olive groves at Boort and Boundary Bend got back to the business of harvesting olives last week. The harvest ground to a halt earlier in the week [...]

By Rachel Hewitt, The harvesting of Timbercorp‘s giant olive crop will resume this morning after the company struck a $15 million deal to sell the fruit to its harvester. The fate of this year’s crop – at two olive groves in northern Victoria – was uncertain after the company’s April 23 collapse. The harvest must [...]

Olive oil production in WA is set to reach a record 2500 tonnes this year, with an increase in backyard growers keen to produce the golden oil. Producers are bottling the 2009 “vintage” and have said there are not enough presses to cope with supply from growers. Rises in production are being attributed to the [...]

Harvesting is going ahead at one of the largest olive groves in the world, owned by Timbercorp. The grove, at Boort in central Central Victoria, is one of the properties the company had trouble selling, before placing itself into voluntary administration. Will Pattison, who works as a contract harvester at the grove, says it makes [...]

By Blair Ensor, The New Zealand olive oil industry’s governing body has imploded in the wake of a controversial choice for the nation’s best-in-show olive oil award. Four executive members of Olives New Zealand, including the president, have resigned in the fallout from a meeting held to thrash out concerns surrounding the awards. The body [...]