Australian Olive Industry Survey Report

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Highlights & Insights ~ Part 1 10 July 2020 Categories: Benchmarking, Communication, Industry Bodies, Industry Statistics and Data, Market Perception, Supply Chain, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Industry Data Statistics

Page Contents 1 About the Survey 2016 2 An Overview of Highlights and Insights 2.1 The Respondents 2.2 Their Olive Groves 2.3 Their Products 2.4 Food Products & Oleotourism 2.5 Chemical Tests, Storage and Transportation 2.6 Problems and Concerns 2.7 Information Sources and Industry Associations 2.8 Government and Industry Organisations 3 View of the Olive and Olive Oil Market and Its Future

About the Survey 2016 The survey was conducted to help all in the Australian Olive Industry understand opportunities and challenges currently facing the industry and to relay the data in a manner which will help the Industry progress. The survey results will be used to better support producers and growers and to educate the buying public.

Survey questions were developed in consultation with researchers, producers, olive industry bodies and commercial entities to ensure a balanced perspective and representation, with the aim of providing useful information for the entire olive industry.

The Olive Centre believes this is Australia’s first comprehensive independent olive industry survey and is the largest collation of data obtained directly from the Olive industry to date. For the full report on the survey, all charts and tables were generated as percentages directly from the raw data collated, and comments were

copied verbatim and unedited. The Olive Centre received no monetary payment for conducting, collating, and reporting the survey and survey results presented herein. The Olive Centre maintains no conflicts of interest.

An Overview of Highlights and Insights The Olive Centre gathered a range of data on the Australian olive and olive oil sectors from small, medium and large-scale companies in a survey conducted in 2016. This industry survey attracted participation from just over 70% of olive and olive oil producer companies (based on production level, not including Boundary Bend), research scientists, industry bodies, commercial entities, and other members of the sector. While Boundary Bend did not participate, official figures from the company’s September 2016 annual report were included in the survey findings to present a complete the picture of the Australian olive industry.

The Australian Olive Industry was estimated to be worth $210 million in 2016. It comprised more than 1,500 olive growing operations and approximately 10 million olive trees. Around 90% of the olives in Australia are grown for the production of olive oil (extra virgin olive oil).

According to Horticulture Innovation Australia estimates, 117,000 metric tonnes of olives are produced in Australia each year, with 63% produced in Victoria, 17% in Western Australia, 11% in South Australia and 9% in New South Wales.

The Respondents Over 75% of respondents were olive growers and producers. More than 71% of survey participants operated one olive grove or processing facility, 20% operated none, and the remaining 10% operated more than one.

In 2016 almost 92% of the olive businesses operating in Australia were Australian-owned. Victoria had the largest number of survey respondents who owned olive groves and processing plants in Victoria at 23.5%, closely followed by New South Wales with 22.5%.

The majority of respondents, almost 68%, were over 54 years of age, with just over 35% of the respondents aged between 55 to 64 years old, and only 0.9% of respondents under 29 years of age. Approximately 74% of the respondents indicated their gender were males.

Their Olive Groves The most predominant olive variety grown in Australia was Frantoio, owned by 73.1% of growers and producers, followed by Manzanillo at 64.1%, Kalamata at 47.3%, and Correggiola at 37.1%.

Almost 80% of respondents had a traditional grove layout, while most of the remaining 20% owned medium density olive groves. On average, in 2016, respondents had owned an olive grove for approximately 14 years.

Over 62% of their olive grove employees were locals residing in their region.

Their Products Approximately 63% of respondents identified as predominantly olive oil producers, 10.8% as mainly table olive producers, and 12% as focused equally on the production of both olives and olive oil. Almost the same proportion of grove owners had (43.3%) and did not have (42.1%) their own olive processing facility, whereas 14.6% intended to expand or incorporate a facility into their business operation in the near future.

At the time of the survey, 42.1% of participants said they were actively involved in producing table olives, with 5.5% of participants considering undertaking the production of table olives. More than 40% of respondents planned to expand their table olive production, while over 20% expected to plant more olive trees.

Food Products & Oleotourism Approximately 56.4% of respondents sold their product under their own brand name; 9.8% only sold their product wholesale, while 33.1% sold their product both in bulk and branded. Growers and producers mainly sold olives and olive oil within their own region, with the most popular sales channels being the food service industry, farmers’ markets and online through their own website.

Olive oil production costs ranged from $3/L to $15/L, with $6.12/L the average cost. Package volumes were mostly 500mL (58.4%), 250mL and 20L. More than 60% of respondents spent less than $1000 annually on marketing their business, products and services to consumers; and 23.6% of these respondents spent $0 on marketing. However, 22.2% of olive groves were involved in oleotourism and had tasting rooms and stores.

Only 30.95% of respondents considered olive and olive oil competitions of value to their brand and business, 42.06% did not comment. Just 40% of participants reported that they enter competitions.

Chemical Tests, Storage and Transportation Over 80% of respondents were consistently successful with chemical tests for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), and 13.5% were successful most of the time. More than 84% of those who were not successful with chemical tests for EVOO had overcome previous failures to meet standards.

Most respondents–76.5%–stored olive oil in stainless steel tanks, whereas 37% used plastic containers, and 20.2% used IBC Shuttles and Pallecons. Around 62% of responders transported their olive oil in glass bottles, while 28.9% used plastic cubes, 25.6% used stainless steel tanks, and 22.3% used tin cans with Epon lining. Many respondents used various types of containers.

Problems and Concerns More than half of respondents experienced persistent problems with pests and diseases in their olive groves, especially with scale and olive lace bug. Birds, sooty mould, weeds, ants and anthracnose were each a problem for more than 20% of respondents, with many reporting more than one problem occurring in their olive grove.

Almost 42% of participants considered access to / supply of water and lack of irrigation infrastructure one of the most crucial issues and a threat to the sustainability of the olive industry in Australia.

Managing and monitoring pest and disease control / biosecurity was not far behind at 35.2%, with domestic and international marketing and promotion of Australian olive and EVOO food products a concern to a third of respondents (31.5%). Biennial bearing (29.7%) and harvesting (25.5%) were also major concerns for more than a quarter of respondents.

Information Sources and Industry Associations Almost 33.3% of respondents acquired industry information and developments regarding their business operations mainly from online and print sources, and around 22% from exchanging information and learning from the experiences and problems encountered by other olive growers and producers.

While close to 60% of respondents did not attend the major national industry conferences, just over 26.9% attended the National Olive Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Australian Olive Association, while 21% attended the Olive Exposium.

Only 46.2% of respondents were members of the Australian Olive Association. Even fewer, 28.5%, were members of state olive associations, and 36.2% were not members of an industry association. Only 11.5% were direct members of Horticulture Innovation Australia.

Many respondents considered that industry associations should focus on marketing and promotion; support for growers; professional education and training; research and development; and access to and sharing of industry information and developments.

Government and Industry Organisations Participants were also interested in seeing federal and state governments and industry organizations do more to promote the industry, undertake initiatives in research and development, and monitor olive and olive oil imports, including accurate labelling, quality control, and enforcement of standards.

Approximately 62% of respondents paid an olive levy. On average, participants rated their level of satisfaction with the use of their levies 5.6 out of 10.

Most respondents rated the practical value of this information, outcomes and recommendations derived from projects funded with their levies 4.3 out of 10.

Approximately 29.3% of respondents had not read a research and development project report, and only 28.6% had read a recent / current research and development project report. Over 84% of respondents were not aware of any current research and development projects that were underway or completed, or experienced difficulty in assessing and attaining report projects.

Most participants indicated it was important to them that research and development projects funded by their levies focus on pest and disease management, market and product development, and especially on assistance in lowering business operating costs and increasing yields for growers.

View of the Olive and Olive Oil Market and Its Future Overall, the majority (53.79%) of respondents had a positive view of the olive oil market in Australia, and 41.48% of respondents were positive about the Australian table olive market.

A number of participants commented on the high quality of Australian EVOO and consumer awareness of quality in an EVOO. Whereas other participants believed inadequate awareness, appreciation and promotion of high quality so that lower-priced imported olive oils were often purchased over local Australian olive oils. Many respondents were concerned about inadequate income received from Australian olives and olive oil.

More than 52% of respondents were confident or very confident about the future of the Australian olive and olive oil industry.

The Olive Centre would like to thank all respondents and express that this information will prove useful for the improvement of the olive industry in Australia.

More: Part 2 Disclaimer: Information contained herein are not the views or opinions of The Olive Centre or it’s Directors. The views and opinions contained herein should not be seen as a statement nor representation of The Olive Centre nor its Directors. The Olive Centre does not guarantee, and accepts no legal liability, for the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained herein or any linked sites or information. You should seek appropriate independent professional advice before making any decisions based on material found associated with The Olive Centre or any affiliated sites. You should not rely on material we provide. All care given to the accuracy of the information provided and is correct at the time of release.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: About Respondents ~ Part 2 4 July 2020 Categories: Demographics, Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Grove location

Demographics Almost 33% of the Industry is between 25 and 54 years of age whereas 64% of the Olive Industry is aged between 55 and 74.

Males dominate the olive industry at around 74% and 26% are females.

Location Over 88% of respondents are from Australia and there were also responses from New Zealand (3.6%), USA (2.7%) and other countries (5.5%). Other countries included Spain, Turkey, Greece, France and Italy. These responses have been omitted from the survey as we are focussing on Australia.

Who are the respondents?

Over 75% of respondents are Olive Growers and Producers. Respondents also indicated they are involved in the industry including Researchers, Industry Influencers, Government, Suppliers and more.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: About The Australian Olive Grove ~ Part 3 3 July 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Grove, entities in olives, High Density olive grove layout, olive grove ownership in Australia, olive oil, olive varietals, production, Super high density olive grove layout, table olives, Traditional Olive Grove Layout

Page Contents 1 Location of Olive Groves and/or Processors 1.0.1 Representatives of Entities in the Industry 2 Australian or Foreign Ownership of Australian Olive Businesses 3 Tonnes of Olives Produced 4 Number of Trees in Respondents Olive Groves 5 Olive Oil or Table Olives 6 Average age of Australian Olive Trees 7 Olive Grove Ownership Duration 8 Varietals Planted in Australian Olive Groves 9 Unproductive Olive Trees 10 Australian Grove Layouts

Location of Olive Groves and/or Processors Victoria and New South Wales showed the highest number of groves located in these areas followed by Western Australia.

Representatives of Entities in the Industry 71% of respondents are operating one grove or production facility in Australia. There was one respondent who operates more than 15 entities in the Australian Olive Industry.

Australian or Foreign Ownership of Australian Olive Businesses Almost 92% of olive businesses are also Australian owned. 6% of Australian olive groves are Foreign owned and 2.2% had a mix of Australian and Foreign ownership.

Tonnes of Olives Produced The largest respondent accounted for over 80,000T which was collated with other large enterprise producers as an average over 5 years.

Boundary Bend produces approximately 65% of Australia’s production.

Number of Trees in Respondents Olive Groves A strong industry response was made from a balance from large, medium, small and artisan producers.

Boundary Bend has a total of 6,433 ha of trees planted which is over 2.6M trees

Olive Oil or Table Olives Respondents indicated how much production in olive oil or table olives came from their olive growing operation. Olive Oil production outweighs Table Olive production in Australia.

Average age of Australian Olive Trees 79% of respondents have had their trees planted for more than 10 years and over 38% for more than 16 years. Boundary Bend’s average tree age is 9.7 years.

Olive Grove Ownership Duration The average age of Olive Grove ownership is 13.78 years.

Varietals Planted in Australian Olive Groves Frantoio and Manzanillo are the predominant varietals planted followed by Kalamata & Correggiola.

Unproductive Olive Trees Over 512,000 olive trees are unproductive on Australian olive groves which is almost 5% of total plantings in Australia.

Australian Grove Layouts Almost 80% of respondents have a traditional grove layout

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Pest & Diseases ~ Part 4 5 July 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Olive Pest & Diseases, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Industry, olive trees, Pest & Disease, Production losses, top 3 olive pests and diseases

Pest and Disease Pressure Over 50% of respondents have persisting issues with Pest and Diseases in their olive grove.

Pest & Diseases in Australian Olive Groves The top 3 pests are Scale, Olive Lace bug and Birds

Pests & Disease Production Losses Under 25% of respondents reported average production losses due to pest and diseases. A total of 1,736,909 kgs was the reported total of all respondents.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Growth Potential ~ Part 5 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Olive Oil, Survey Results Tags: olive industry growth potential

Industry Growth Potential Over 27% of respondents have the vision to expand their olive growing operation. The average answer was stay the same.

Areas for Expansion The majority of responses was to expand in Table Olive Production.

Boundary Bend has also stated tree planting expansion is underway.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Industry Communications ~ Part 6 4 June 2020 Categories: Communication, Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Industry communications, Industry conference, olive grove, Olive Industry resources, olive trees, trade exhibitions

Industry resources Information sought by Olive Growers and Producers are predominantly sought online and in literature.

Only 10.6% of producers refer to professional consultancy services.

Other resources accounted for 5.9% and included organic industry conferences, government organisations, contact with consumers & regional olive growing associations.

Industry Conferences & Trade Exhibitions 60% of respondents do not attend industry conferences. 26.9% attend the National Olive Conference.

11.1% of other included local workshops, local association meets, Savantes, The Olive Oil Conference in USA and others in Italy.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Staffing & Employment ~ Part 7 4 June 2020 Categories: Employment, Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Grove, Australian Olive Industry, backpacker tax, Backpackers, Local employment, Staffing & Employment

Employment in Australian Olive Groves A total of 532 employees from respondents.

Types of Employment per Entity Over 62% of staff employed at Australian olive groves are sourced locally.

32% who source elsewhere responded; family & friends or employ themselves only.

Backpacker Tax 85% of respondents were not affected by the backpacker tax.

Affect by Backpacker Tax The 14.2% of respondents who are affected by the backpacker tax did respond with the following: Considering changing to mechanical (automated) machinery to lower staffing.

Negative. Australians are not prepared to do the casual work for short periods that transient travellers are prepared to do. It must be economical for the grower.

Yes as it will limit the labour pool available Backpacker tax doesn’t affect us, BUT the ability of us signing off on 457 extended visa forms has. We are unable to do this now, and WWOOFers look for paid work, and avoid WWOOF hosts such as us.

Negative- we rely on backpackers who work part time in lieu of board and lodging with additional pay over 25 hrs per week- visa extension.

As we use backpackers from time to time to help keep up with maintenance we need this cost to be kept as low as possible or we will not use them and just look to do ourselves Extremely negative effect. There seem to be none around now and we need help but not enough work (or income) to employ locals on a regular basis.

The cost of labour in such a labour intensive industry is prime in budgeting. The industry does not pay well for products therefore labour doesn’t get a Guernsey.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Production ~ Part 8 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Production, Survey Results Tags: branding, olive oil production, olive production, Production cost

Processing Operations 43% of Grove owners also process their own olives. 14.6% are seeking to expand or include a production facility.

Boundary Bend has a processing capacity of 98T/hr.

Olive or Olive Oil Production The majority of production (62.9%) is olive oil.

Other responses; Value adding production sourced from other groves Plant Nursery The olives are a side line to cereal crops Olive Oil exporter and promoter We make EVOO, table olives and beauty products Investor in processing Trees have produced in the past, but not any more. If the issues in Q.36 were overcome, we would be producing both oil and fresh fruit.

Producer of olives, oil and provider of services to other producers

Branding 75% of respondents have their own brand and do not sell their product wholesale.

36% only sell their product wholesale only.

Production cost of Australian olive oil Costs of production varied from $3/L to $15/L. The average of respondents is $6.12/L. Almost 50% of respondents answered this question.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Industry Issues ~ Part 9 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Industry, Biennial bearing, climate change, drought, government lobbying, harvesting, imported olive oil, Irrigation, marketing, Olive Industry

Top 10 Issues facing olive groves in Australia The biggest issue facing the Olive Industry: 1. Water & Irrigation (41.8%) 2. Pest & Disease control (35.2%) 3. Marketing (31.5%) 4. Biennial bearing (29.7%) 5. Harvesting Issues (25.5%) 6. Unproductive Varietals (22.4%) 7. Cost of Labour (22.4%) 8. Climate Change/Seasonal Conditions (17.6%) 9. Inconsistent cropping (17%) 10. Competition from imports (17%) Other responses (15.2%) Drought Lack of liason, communication & transparency from industry bodies.

Trees too young Waste and EPA compliance Regulations Land cost Distribution Poor health Lack of lobbying government.

Issues – How to overcome Education, Knowledge & access to more information Consumer education Tax cheap oil imports, industry association help to establish export markets, encourage more serious growers to join the industry.

I believe the situation will improve as more trees come into production through maturation, and more trees are planted in due course.

More time, understanding of the best practices for my grove, my own pressing, better networking to sell product and financial profitability. access to info for small growers. Olive association is mostly about BIG industry. Cost of equipment is exorbitant in Australia not the case in other olive oil-producing countries.

Processors prepared to process at night anything to drop chemical (and fertiliser) costs Better attention to growing needs Government to wake up to themselves despite what the CSIRO claimed in their investigation of some 10=15 yrs ago. We live in a country of very diverse weather conditions.

Not entirely sure. Working through issues as we identify. Biggest thing is probably time management.

Processing ability Industry promotion Government and industry support for small to medium growers (1000 to 2000 trees) Mentoring eg Farm needs a farmer program I don’t know Distributors willing to carry and promote Australian olive oil Lower wages, lower freight costs, cheaper production inputs, cheaper packaging, better grower oil prices The issue with imported oil standards is the same issue that was a problem 15 years ago when I started in the industry.

Heavy mulching to protect soil during summer heat using green mulch of firstly nasturtiums followed by sweet potato. More efficient irrigation.

An independent inquiry into the operations and financials of the Australian Olive Australian.

Advertise paid positions within the industry to the wider public so that selection process be based on merit and equal opportunity. Independent performance based assessment of individuals holding paid positions within the Australian Olive Australian A world price of $6 Rain and no backpacker tax.

I believe I am already doing the best I can to deal with these issues. I just have to live within my limits (water available for irrigation, low price of olive oil, limited time etc).

Proactive and financially buoyant industry driven by a collaborative body Better bank financing – short term loans Diesel Rebate on travel fuel for Harvester Machinery; subsidy on purchase of new harvesting machinery Access to reduced labour costs OR being able to sell the product at a higher price.

Research to understand best varietals to use in various regions of Australia. Resource sharing/regional co-ops to reduce costs.

Policing fraudulent products and countervailing tariff imposed against EU. Find more water at a reasonable price Complete extermination of Olive Lace Bug nationwide. A winter chill with a halt to climate change.

Large producers selling cheap oil to supermarkets below cost of production Less regulations

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Olive Oil Quality ~ Part 10 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Olive Oil, Survey Results Tags: australian olive oil, chemical testing for olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, olive oil standard, olive oil storage, quality, transportation

Page Contents 1 Chemical Testing for EVOO 2 Chemical Testing for EVOO – problems meeting quality criteria 3 Chemical Testing for EVOO 4 Meeting the Standards 5 Testing for Quality 6 Understanding olive oil quality tests 7 Storage of Olive Oil 8 Transportation of Olive Oil 9 Minimum Temperature Olive Oil Storage 10 Maximum Temperature Olive Oil Storage 11 Maintaining Quality during Transportation 12 Maintaining Quality during Transportation 13 Maintaining Quality

Chemical Testing for EVOO Over 80% of respondents always pass the chemical testing criteria and 13.5% pass most of the time.

Chemical Testing for EVOO – problems meeting quality criteria Respondent gave reasons why they felt they had not passed the chemical testing criteria: We test our own oil as we have purchased the test machine The fruit bought in for crushing would vary in quality, some excellent, some was terrible (spread out in the sun to reduce the moisture weight so the cost was reduced – consequence was terrible tasting oil) Failed phthalate for export EVOO not knowledge the person of analysis we have not had it tested but the pressing company always presses as EVOO FFA Testing relating to shelf life Anthracnose affecting fatty acids Storage prior to crushing

Chemical Testing for EVOO 68.4% of respondents have identified the cause of the fault/defect. There is still a group of 31.6% who are unsure why the fault/defect occurred.

Meeting the Standards Majority of respondents have been able to overcome previous failures to meet standards.

Testing for Quality Majority of respondents have been able to identify the required tests to meet standards.

Understanding olive oil quality tests Most respondents do have an understanding of what is required with quality testing of their oils.

Storage of Olive Oil 76.5% of respondents store olive oil in Stainless steel tanks.

37% are using plastic devices for olive oil storage.

Other responses were: Glass bottles, 60L plastic drums and tins.

Transportation of Olive Oil 62% of respondents transport their olive oil in glass bottles whereas 28.9% use plastic cubes.

Minimum Temperature Olive Oil Storage Minimum storage temperatures varied from 2°C – 23°C. The average minimum temperature is 12.5°C.

Maximum Temperature Olive Oil Storage Maximum storage temperatures varied from 0°C – 67°C. The average maximum temperature is 24.12°C.

Maintaining Quality during Transportation 74% of respondents believe to be transporting their oil in an acceptable way to maintain quality.

22.7% of respondents do not know if their transport is acceptable for upholding quality.

Maintaining Quality during Transportation 20% of respondents are sending olive oil with HACCP approved or quality assured freighter.

Respondents who specified other: Own transportation Looking into options Unsure Customers who pickup it is their responsibility.

Maintaining Quality 40.8% of respondents have challenges with quality or achieving consistent results.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Olive Oil Pricing Benchmark ~ Part 11 4 June 2020 Categories: Benchmarking, Industry Statistics and Data, Olive Oil, Survey Results Tags: farmgate olive oil pricing, fresh olive fruit pricing, Olive Oil Benchmark Pricing, prepackaged olive oil prices

Farmgate prices Olive Oil Bulk

Farmgate prices Olive Oil Prepackaged 32.1% of respondents are obtaining a price of $25 or more per kg of branded olive oil.

Farmgate prices Fresh Fruit 54.6% of respondents are able to obtain higher than $2-$4 per kg.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Table Oil Pricing Benchmark ~ Part 12 4 June 2020 Categories: Benchmarking, Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: bulk table olive pricing, farmgate table olive price, fresh table olives, Table Olive Benchmark

Page Contents 1 Producing Table Olives 2 Farmgate prices Table Olives Bulk 3 Farmgate prices Table Olives Prepackaged 4 Farmgate prices Table Olives Fresh Fruit 5 Knowing more about Table Olives

Producing Table Olives 42.1% of respondents are actively producing table olives and 5.5% are considering producing table olives.

Farmgate prices Table Olives Bulk

Farmgate prices Table Olives Prepackaged

Farmgate prices Table Olives Fresh Fruit

Knowing more about Table Olives Respondents stated they wanted to know more about: Curing processes including “Pickling” green olives Something appropriate for my area in WA and conditions

All aspects Can vacuum seal olives in marinade contain garlic Small scale (100-500kg/hr) sorting equipment that is economically priced Best methods and amount of water per tree with drip irrigation, weed control, improved yield, labor shortages and costs Support on how to best prepare and manage a small table olive production system This is a huge growth area for us. We learnt a lot at the last conference which answered all our concerns and we will apply to next year’s crop – after that year I am sure we will have more questions.

Yes MANZANILLO as they soften easily in brine unless green Chemistry, reactions in barrels, ph and end targets to meet to get consistent quality. buyers want perfect looking fruit which is very hard to achieve Yes all of them from start to finish.

Best varieties for my area I would like to know more ways of producing a variety of styles and flavours.

Continually finding out more about the preservation of table olives and the various packaging environments Cause and effect of spoilage.Processing / Maturation Best methods for producing fine table olives consistently Recipes for producing table olives.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Marketing & Sales ~ Part 13 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Marketing & Sales, Survey Results Tags: cellar door, farmer markets, food service industry, labeling compliance, labelling compliance, marketing, olive oil, olives, online website, product sales channels

Page Contents 1 Olive Product Sales 2 Olive Product Sales Channels 3 Olive Products – Labelling Compliance 4 Olive Product Sales – Cellar Door or Tasting Room 5 Successes and Challenges with Product Sales 6 Marketing Budget

Olive Product Sales Many products are sold locally

Olive Product Sales Channels The most popular sales channels are Food Service Industry, Farmer Markets and Online.

Olive Products – Labelling Compliance

Olive Product Sales – Cellar Door or Tasting Room 22% of Groves have cellar doors with a further 7.4% planning to expand in this area.

Successes and Challenges with Product Sales Respondents answers: Selling to local retail outlets and consumers.

Providing information and tastings to regular bus groups and informing the benefits of olive oil.

Selling direct to customers at farmers markets has given us our best return. The supermarket scene is cut throat and unpleasant.

Marketing Networking and competitive pricing. Getting a niche market in the area.

Good local recognition and reputation for quality. Need to educate people more on the virtues of olive oil.

Need to increase direct and online sales as the margins are better Supermarket prices can be quite unreasonably high. The mediterranean group know what the product is and disposal is not an issue. Our english ancestors up to say the 1970’s didn’t seem to acknowledge the value of olive oil, since then this situation has been improving.

A lot of hours in face to face sales. High delivery costs for food service industry and online.

Distance from markets, transport, packaging costs power costs. The changing generation where the younger ones don’t seem to either want to or know how to pickle olives.

Time constraints.

100% sales of oil maintain current price with increased production.

Highly awarded EVOO (5 brands = 3 gold + 2 silver in 2016).

Challenge; decreasing bulk sales & increasing wholesale —> retail —> value added.

Freshness Organic Cost Successes: 1) talking/tasting EVOO with customers and explaining the product Extra Virgin Olive Oil to them. Challenges: as exporter of Australian EVOO, one of the main challenges is to bring Australian EVOO in the perception of consumers who don’t know. 2) Explain difference between Extra Virgin grade and Olive Oil grade.

Arranging the harvester to arrive when there is no rain.

Marketing and identifying distribution channels. postage.

Challenges – delivery of stock, education of suppliers/sellers, obtaining access to local farmers markets Successes – maintaining a reasonable price and lifting the expectations of quality, awards & decals, great label Dominance of major Australian producer Promoting to local providores and restaurants are successes. Challenges are the amount of supply at the moment until the grove starts to produce more enough product for demand Be real Meeting customer expectations , education of customer of our products, prompt delivery, attention to detail and consistency of supply.

How long do you have??? Call me Achieving a sustainable price is the major challenge.

We produce small batches of olive oil and have a boutique clientele. Most of our olives are table olives and the cost of picking and shortage of labor factored into orchard expenses makes it difficult to make a healthy profit.

Tasting the product Hard to get high price to make any profit The challenge is to minimise costs and get a good price in a bulk oil market. Small groves have difficulty in keeping costs low when they have to use contract harvesters and processors. The overheads in marketing your own brand are hard to justify Diversity has been our success & challenges have been towards price, imports, cooperative work. accessing markets having enough product High quality – great feedback; not enough time to devote to grove; weather conditions.

Have won award at Royal perth show. I’m a boutique olive grower,.

The challenge is consistency of supply across the year and years, packaging costs and time…time is always the challenge.

This was my first good year . Everyone in my small town wanted to by my oil. I sold out very quick Can always sell my product in bulk if necessary but far more financially positive to package and sell in smaller boutique outlets locally Too much oil, too little price offered Maintaining supply and demand with our customer base Expanding into more bulk sales at a reasonable price Marketing

We are making money!

Too many to list here Constant competition from overseas and misguided view of consumers of what IS a good olive Short timeframe to remain EVOO. Finding sufficient markets to ensure a steady flow.

Getting our product into local shops Increasing demand through making oil of high and consistent quality.

Competing coconut oil and misleading other veg oils Successes; Locals keen to support our product. Challenges; packaging and labelling costs and requirements, very time consuming.

Quality and hygiene go hand in hand. A good retailer will move a good product Repeat customers start to make it easier.

We sell mostly through Australia Post direct to customers, mostly restaurants. Bigger orders by freight on pallets.

The weather at the local market, impact on weekends.

I have been able to sell all my oil through recommendation and word of mouth. time…teaching customers the virtues of good olive oils As a credited VFM member I find it very difficult to be find opportunities to sell at local VFM markets due to domination of other olive product suppliers.

On the whole I am successful. The low price of bulk olive oil for restaurants and the fickle nature of the restaurant trade are a challenge.

Successes are direct communication with the public.

Challenge: to convince customers supermarket olive oil is inferior to the oil produced by the grower.

Marketing Budget More than 60% of respondents spend less than $1000 per annum.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Product & Supply chain ~ Part 14 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Supply Chain, Survey Results Tags: Olive, olive oil, product packaging, product supply chain

Diversity of Product Packaging The most common package sizes are 500mL, 250mL & 20L.

Supply Chain Issues 56% respondents don’t have any issues with supply chains.

The respondents who answered no: Yes,yes,and yes Price received – always want lower wholesale prices.

Inability to compete with imported product.

Bulk price too low. Payment terms for bulk EVOO are unacceptable. It takes 6-12 months to receive payments for bulk EVOO. Bottle unavailability As mentioned above, the price received from sales to restaurants is low. There are also always some customers that need chasing up for payment.

Price Received Payment needs to be effected even before the oil can reach destination. A reasonable delay between purchase and distribution offered by short term bank loans would help We have only just started. So far – we have had pay on delivery. NO consignment. Profits are poor and thus we are expecting to meet this gap through beauty products and accommodation.

All listed Cash on delivery larger retailers are generally slower payers we are in an international agricultural commodity market and are thus affected by currency valuation, overseas markets and other competing cooking oils pricing Profitability Everything is COD Profitability is low for EVOO- very small profit margin.

Slow payments from distributors causing a flow on effect Issue is our very low volume of product which means low gross income.

What….apart from actually having customers pay within agreed time???

Minimal bad debts (2 small restaurants in Broome fell over 5 years ago). None bad since.

Have given credit to shaky purchaser of large order in SA, covered with company and directors’ guarantees.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Olive & EVOO Competitions ~ Part 15 4 June 2020 Categories: Competitions, Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition, Table Olive Competition

Olive & Olive Oil Competitions 30.95% of respondents perceive olive and olive oil competitions as valuable.

40% of respondents enter their product(s) into olive and olive oil competitions.

Consumer questions respondents didn’t know how to answer The best I ever got was: “Do you have any banana-flavoured oil?”

A lot!

The issue of olive oil being/not being suitable for frying at high temperatures.

What oleocanthal value does your oil have?

Mostly the chemical analyses type questions Aust standards logo Exactly how many olives did it take to make a bottle of oil ?—(You can answer that one) Are imported olive oil products really evoo? why so expensive compared to supermarket Have been able to answer all questions Have handled all questions so far Who is going to win the US election?

Have been able to answer them all so far Is it any good?

I haven’t been able to tell them that the oil is extra virgin because I don’t have it tested. Because of our small volumes it is not worth it, we always sell it all anyway. I am not sure if I had the acidity test kit that it would confirm the oil is extra virgin or if I have to send it away to be tested.

Always is it first pressed and extra virgin…they seem to know these terms but little else

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Market Perception ~ Part 16 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Market Perception, Survey Results Tags: Australia Olive Association, authenticity, consumer understanding, fresh extra virgin olive oil, local oil promotion, Market Perception, Olive Association, olive oil, product appreciation, promotion of olive products

Page Contents 1 Olive Oil Market Perception 2 Table Olive Market Perception 3 Australian Industry Market 4 Future Confidence – Industry Perception 4.1 Future Confidence Reasons 4.2 Market Perception

Olive Oil Market Perception Over 53% of respondents are positive about the olive oil market.

Table Olive Market Perception Over 41% of respondents are positive about the table olive market.

Australian Industry Market In your opinion what is working well in the Australian industry and/or market?

The ability to buy quality fresh evoo from supermarkets Farmers markets are great. The general health image of olive oil is great, but needs continuing support Good quality Buy local From the viewpoint of an international supplier to the Australian market, we have fairly decent contact with intermediate sellers.

Quality product when compared to most imports A lot of info available improving awareness of quality quality focus is high neat EVOO not blends or add ins…

Quality, hygiene, health, Australian made Quality of the fruit Promotion of EVOO by reality TV food programmes. To a lesser degree by industry self promotion. nothing – we can’t compete on a level field against cheap imports when the consumer only sees the price and not the difference in quality of the product Increasing demand for locally produced oil Growers, producers and processors working hard to produce quality EVOO, table olives and value added products for local and international markets.

Suppliers to the industry sponsoring and supporting growers, producers and processors and industry events.

The AOA is doing a good job improving awareness of the benefits of buying Aus EVOO & of the negatives associated with imports.

Promoting australian produce Growth Authentic traceable olive products Mechanical harvesting and processing Farmers markets but these rely on time and labor intensive selling methods for minimal result.

The hard work done by those of us who sell direct to the public Green & Fresh promotion BBL Undecided The understated work of BBL in promoting the quality of Australian extra virgin olive oil. OK while it works for them, it has a rush down effect of working for all producers.

The association and it’s members have been invaluable to us.

The general public are pushing for quality and want to learn – they want fresh and best produce. They also love to hear the story of our journey/challenges Market for Australian EVOO growing Consumer perceptions around the health benefits of EVOO Quality perceptions around local and fresh Associations pushing the idea and marketing the oil to consumers Trend towards whole fresh foods and cooking shows pushing high quality foods.

Local oil promotion The fact that the products are produced and grow in Australia, people trust that more than imported products. making customers more aware of locally produced evoo Organic produce growing customer awareness of good local Australian product The olive centre exposium From what i have experienced every time i posed a question i was always helped in one way or another through websites and blogs of other farmers and growers Not much as there is too much factional infighting good quality reputation amongst buyers product promotion Customers will support Australian if it is priced competitively. product appreciation Top quality product and research.

The reputation of Australian producing high quality evoo Local growers selling high quality products to local food lovers it is perceived a a quality product Keen local growers and produce Regulations killing market Smaller producers making their own niche markets.

Starting to be seen as a quality product Improving view on healthy properties of fresh EVOO

Australian products are outstanding. Consumers are swarming to the local product.

A growing public appreciation and interest in quality olive oil and olives.

Keeping up high quality produce Public perception that Australian oil is high quality When we do industry consumer campaigns and education it increases sales Improvement in people’s understanding of products Growing consumer awareness The perception among people that Australian Olive Oil is a very good product. i’m struggling to find something positive here. When something like the olive route appears, sharp practices and self seeking attitudes seem to prevail.

Most customers know Australian oil is good quality Gaining favour and growing demand Growing production levels, the bar of quality is on the rise, stronger commodity prices, strong consumer push for Australian Olive Oil, Improved growing styles to increase productivity, development of new products Education is probably getting to consumers gradually Farmers markets the fact that Australian oil is available on the market.

Growing interest of the public in olive oil which is due to getting people to taste oil at any opportunity.

Farmers market particularly good and also restaurants who serve our oil. Publicity generated by AOA has been good when it has been released.

Increase in Australian production and quality Oils from the larger producers eg Cobram, they set the standard and educate and we all benefit from their activities In your opinion what is not working well in the Australian industry and/or market?

Consumer understanding of quality of oil – understanding of variety of flavours Consumer appreciation of olive oil Promotion of small scale producers More promotions, and knowledge of the product!

AOA Export strategies for small producers. Big supermarkets ignore small producers, however country IGA stores are often supportive.

Consumer knowledge Too many imports!

The local private market has not contacted our company for information, in fact we have received news from third parties that actual clients have experienced questions, and not contacted us directly.

There may be a poor view of importation of dedicated machinery.

Major supermarkets selling cheap evo cheap imports all should be tested on arrival to our standard profitability at a grower level Vinaigry table olives Some poor products pricing, marketing Allowing export products to undermine pricing and quality at the Supermarket shelf. cheap imports – see A 69 Aggressive competition between Australian producers . The Australian Olive Association Coles & Woolies are actively suppressing the price of bulk EVOO. They are running it as a loss leader & buggering up the market.

Clarity compared to imported oil Share of Knowledge. Variety Yields and use of Varieties. What grows best in what area. Typing of varieties for sale aust government sitting on their hand with regarding not mandating aust standards Small growers like us competing with the big groves that set the price.

Sales Where to begin? 1/ AOA, 2/ Consistent consumer awareness and education, 3/ Marketing, 4/ Taking the compeition to other vegetable oils, 5/ Imported and Australian EVOO marketing unification and collaboration, 6/ Feral olive tree eradication There seems to be a lack of understanding by the consumer re the superior quality of olive oil.

Oil such as Coconut and Seed Oils seem to have more impact via the media.

Look at the Advocado adds, colourful, up front and in your face. where are the trendy olive oil ads.?

Marketing, Pricing

Industry needs to be more aggressive against fraudulent competition. The Australian olive industry really need to work together. Australian Government needs to give more importance to this commodity. AOA seems immobile or too still in front of growers who shut down, whereas world consumption of EVOO is increasing. Fraudulent competition doesn’t seem to have any problem to sell huge amount of rancid oil and they meet no challenge or resistance in doing so at all. Australian Olive Oil is missing from the perception of too many consumers outside Australia. Still too much confusion created by the common name olive oil, which is also common name for the Extra Virgin grade olive oil: this is a DEADLY mistake in a name!! As a new world olive oil producer, Australia needs to go and GET its rightful place in the market, not wait that the place will be granted by IOC. The past history of growing olives in Australia, with investors being ripped off by bad investment with fraudulent olive growing companies, has left a terrible black shadow over this young industry: something need to be done to recover this lost confidence.

Dominance of one major producer Too many small groves(5000 and less ) and have been abandoned Perishable items No enforcement by the Government of mislabelled, misleading branding Lack of proper industry marketing The Australian Olive Association is useless.

They walk around with their noses in the air and do nothing. market cut through low prices costs Governments not listening to the industry – vested interests. producers producing low grade product and selling in our market.

Info you can walk into any supermarket and by Australian olive oil….you cannot by Australian table olives.

The Australian product is finding it very hard to compete with foreign imports on a price basis. There is still a lot to be done to convince the consumer of the benefits of Australian oil in everyday use, as well as its health benefits AOA has become self-indulgent, and focused on the larger producers to the detriment of smaller.

Too much oil, too small a market Imports of low quality oil Supermarkets attitude to local smaller growers Per capita consumption is declining and there is too much denigration and bias among producers and importers In fighting ZERO emphasis by Association to highlight Aust Table Olives The unfair competition of poor quality overseas goods without any labelling requirements of quality.

Lack of political will or olive association action to do anything about this situation.

Lack of analysis facilities for testing olive quality in WA. Having the public informed about local quailty dont know Cheap imported oil Very high transport costs. Lack if distribution channels.

Lace bug answers Improved yield answers Accepting the cost of a precious product Distribution is controlled by the supermarkets From my industry perspective my trees don’t produce enough fruit. Maybe a more open wholesale market where growers with poor harvests can easily get in touch with growers with excess to sell.

Olive oil and table olives are not yet seen to be a staple food People are unprepared to pay more for local oil than supermarkets selling imported oil Cheap oil imports and rubbish table olives in supermarkets put many potential consumers off Table Olives are not strong in the Australian market and should be a strong part of the industry, skincare could also be a large part of the industry. Training to growers and grass root activities are dwindling or non-existent. Finding ways to lower cost of production, no initiatives to attract young people to the industry. Industry bodies are short-sighted and need to help and understand member needs. getting honest labelling legislated Promotion of fresh local produce infrastructure for pruning and general maintenance The past history of growing olives in Australia, with investors being ripped off by bad investment with fraudulent olive growing companies, has left a terrible black shadow over this young industry: something need to be done to recover this lost confidence.

The constant negativity of the Australian Olive Association regarding Extra Virgin Olive Oil from overseas. Whilst we all know that most from O/S that we can buy in Australia are generally of lower quality than are made here, most small and medium sized growers don’t compete in the same market.

Personally I’m sick and tired of hearing about the merits of standard or that standard. While canning the opposition may have had some value in a fledgling industry, it now only seems to have the opposite effect of fostering mistrust and suspicion of extra virgin olive oil in general (no matter where it came from)..And at the same time coconut oil and other oils such as ricebran have stolen the limelight amongst younger health savvy consumers. I wish they would stop the negativity for everyones sake.

Australia, on its side, is logistically closer to Asia, China and India and can play cards, in this market, as ‘shipped by air’ to which customer are very sensitive. The Australian industry (or AOA) needs to employ speakers of Asian languages in order to diffuse information faster and better than lacking competition: Australia cannot sell only to Australia to survive and expand. More help to export is needed, more integration with potential best Australian customers such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and more is needed. insufficient community knowledge on quality of australian produce relative to bulk (imported) products in supermarkets Other local Australian produces continue to sell their EVOO for low prices. This just lowers the general public expectations of what they should be expecting to pay. And they are willing to pay more – we just need to demand it.

Divided industry between AOA and AOOA Divided industry between Australian and Imported olive oil Negative PR about other legitimate types of olive oils (non-EVOO) Australian producers struggling to make sustainable returns Government support for small growers and the industry that should be backed by the Government and not the international EU oils that are imports, use local and Australian EVOO Supermarkets driving price down at suppliers expense. Also with the industry being small it looks to me as if the government is not in any rush help.

Virtually no marketing information about local table olives and the use of ‘non natural’ pickling processes used by imported products To many small groves(5000 and less ) and have been abandoned Lack of advertising in relation to the Australian products, some of the community still believe good olive oils come from the european sector. making customers aware of the adulteration of oil imported into our country No inforcement by the Government of mislabelled, misleading branding I really cant comment as im new to the olive family cost structure Too much importing, it looks like we are having it dumped here at the silly prices we have to compete with. Not enough advertising or Australian Olive Oil costs Promotion and exposure of Australian evoo

Future Confidence – Industry Perception Over 86% of respondents are very confident, confident, or reasonably confident in the future of the Australian olive industry.

Future Confidence Reasons Why are you confident/not confident in the future of the olive/oil industry? Please tell us why?

Respondents answered: Consumer use and understanding will increase over time There are some growers who produce an excellent product. There are very few growers providing an inferior product.

Confident because of the rock-solid health benefits of evoo, and it’s been a diet staple forever.

We do not have many big growers here in Oz. There is too much competition from Italy, Greece and Spain…not to mention Sth America.

Cost seems to rule over quality Whether we continue to support local producers and build the knowledge and help to get the best products.

We have dealt with the Australian industry for more than 10 years, with a constant increase in information required.

Olive oil is good for you. Good healthy oil.

We are capable of producing a quality product, Australian owned and grown.

More awareness and overseas product is becoming more inferior and going up in price Public awareness is growing on health benefits of olive oil Signs of improvement Very few producers making a genuine agricultural return. Very old/aged grower base, not driving the industry in general.

People love olive oil. Increasing perception of health It is a food product that has a market place. Australian food culture is on the up and EVOO and table olives are a quality product with positive health benefits. Production is environmentally sustainable We’re out due to health issues but the transport, packaging, utility costs wages and irrigation continue to rise but the product prices are falling.

An excellent tree for our climatic conditions.

Increasing demand and growing population Australian oils quality is excellent and sought after Australian growers, producers, processors and suppliers to the industry are working hard to produce quality products and services, and to move the industry forward.

However, the Australian Olive Association is holding back, stifling and failing the entire industry on all levels.

We produce a clean, green product. Consumption will continue to increase. And prices will improve. cost of production against cheaper imports Development during time of harvesting to produce the “World’s Best.” The cycle from tree to press involving handling techniques preventing spoilage of the fruit. Australians have from wheat, to sugar,to beer to wine observed and introduced method to position their product at the top of the pyramid. The Olive Oil industry falls into this history of achievement.

Aust standards Climatic conditions generally good for olive production. Genuine pure olive products due to Australian standards.

I think a lot depends on the amount of time and effort put in by growers. That varies from case to case.

Because of the product itself, and the quality of the product. Against all odds, this will usually win out.

It is an industry that relies on the passion of growers and producers.

More young people need to be encouraged to get involved.

The trees are getting bigger providing more volume of olive oil on our grove therefore our income will increase, even when it doesn’t look good it is better than it looks.

Since we have older trees for table olives (about seventeen hundred), hand picking is very expensive and labor has become unreliable. Foreign competition has also been detrimental to us as local growers. Although we press for oil as well, our trees do have have the highest yield of oil.

Europe is experiencing more & more problems in producing quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and this trend is not going to reverse. Europe strength is in name and refined oils, grounds on which the EVOO competition should be fought. In Europe there is not any more a generation who wants to harvest olives (by hand, or by small machinery), whereas Australia, due to its terrain, can mechanize and still maintain the quality.

So many people are moving out of production Great genuine people doing genuine things for genuine purposes.

Because their are a vast number of passionate farmers selling great quality and the public are wanting great quality local produce. It’s a simple demand vs supply equation and the demand is growing.

Ongoing consumer demand for olive oil, however, Australian industry must work to address financial viability olive growers are selling up and pulling up the trees as the prices are not favour of producing or marketing, too high for the consumers and also the grower of making good profit Gradually consumers are starting to understand about how much better the local product is Poor support from government. Low yields relative to costs and average olive oil price.

It is a basic and important food stuff.

Because we have an excellent product an if promoted well the imports will struggle. with producers doing oil tastings and making customers aware of how good local oil is Demand will continue to outstrip supply Many interested customers Greater awareness of using quality olive oils and supporting local growers I think Australian beginning to understand the quality of local oil.

There are some enthuiastic people in the industry but a lot who are on an ego trip.

From what i have learnt in my short time i do believe we grow some of the worlds best olives for table and for oil.

Supermarkets use the product as a loos leader too much of the time good quality but poor profits cost structure.

Industry has become polarised, need to always get to back to basics and not get ahead of ourselves, too many fat cats are getting involved in research & development, not enough local support. On the confident side it is an easy manageable life style and connects you with good growers and international buyers.

Cost of production – cheap imports Brilliant quality and easily betters any imported products.

Australia produces excellent quality oils, superior to those imported The reputation of high quality australian evoo Australian standards are usually high Put in what you get out The publick are learning just how good our home growen product is It is a small boutique industry which does not really give a financial benefit for the time and cost of production. turned to industry Concerned that the “peak body” has abandoned the small producers, and these producers are doing their thing without interference.

To many imports that do not meet our standards Moving in the right direction

My concern is the financial viability of small to medium groves. Polarization of the large and smaller growers is creating this concern. Eventually the larger producers may drive out the smaller producers if the larger growers move into the smaller grower market domains We need more investment and less infighting A quality product well suited to Australian conditions and needs. to many suppliers locally vs imports See 78 Nobody is DOING anything to help local producers … ( working with Govt to highlight the value of the LOCAL industry etc ) Internal competition and lack of ways for producers to cooperate to form syndicates for export market. Price given for bulk hardly covers cost of picking and pressing- remains an expensive hobby rather than a business.

Keep pushing the quality of our Australian product It’s a very hard sell, even the distributors are saying same Returns need to be in excess of costs and compliance Processing options are limited. Requires a grower to be very large or very small. Medium size growers can have difficulty processing and selling into the market.

Growing markets around the world and an educated market that understands the health benefits of olive products, particularly olive oil.

I am an optimist Until exports are forced to correctly label and are not dumping cheap oil in Aus. It is going to be hard to make a fair profit with Aust olives Growing interest in quality and healthy food. Rising oil prices. what alternative food source is there, as good as?

Eat local is having good take up good clean product and a positive feeling in the industry. overseas competition

Market Perception 47.9% of respondents indicated they were positive about the perception of olive oil and table olive market in Australia.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Industry References & Organisations ~ Part 17 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Bodies, Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Agromillora, Agromillora Australia, AOOA, Australian Certified Organic, Australian Olive Association, Australian Olive Industry, Australian Olive Oil Association, Department Agriculture, Dr Rodney Mailer, Hunter Olive Association

Page Contents 1 Trust in professional practical advice 1.0.1 If you have an issue or concern, who would you turn to seek professional practical advice?

2 Industry Associations 2.0.1 What do you think your association does well to serve its members, levy payers and/or Industry?

2.0.2 What do you think your association could do better to serve its members, levy payers and/or Industry?

2.1 Association Roles 2.2 Associations – Focus 3 Government & Industry Support 3.0.1 What support would you like to see from a government/industry organisation?

Trust in professional practical advice If you have an issue or concern, who would you turn to seek professional practical advice?

AOA Govt and industry agencies are of little help. Particularly as organic producers, we find such bodies don’t even know what oganics is, an even seem to regard it with contempt, which puts them completely out of step with increasing consumer demand for certified organic food.

I would probably contact Amanda at the olive centre, or my mate Jose, an old olive grower from Barcelona.

To the olive centre and other local growers no idea. A friend growing olive like me.

Prob AOA/modern olives THE OLIVE CENTRE & STEVE & GREG Red wine Aus Olives local rep Olive experts No one we have already negotiated reduced prices for outgoings where ever it is possible Olives Australia Have built up an area of knowledge so at this stage would refer to past experience Other suppliers to the industry, and growers, producers and processors where appropriate.

Share of knowledge even from those that have observed but failed Other growers Irrigation company, horticultural adviser, chef (cook), accountant Rarely, unless I know the person or company to seek help from.

Industry Local farm bureau and other growers Dr Rod Mailer

The association (AOA) – they have been great.

AOOA/IOC Industry Consultant Olive Centre None available Olive Australia are extremely helpful. The Dept of Agriculture are pretty hopeless unless you strike it lucky.

The olive centre in Queensland Agronomically, if i had a tree issue i would speak to industry specialists.

Self The olive centre At the moment its all online information and blogs and sometimes social media.

It is difficult to find someone in Australia with sufficient professional or practical advice AOA, processors, suppliers, technical publications No, do not wish to feed another fat cat. association members Association.

Marcelo..^^ I have done Agronomist for disease issues I consult Dr Vera Sergeva…a day with her is a master class in disease identification.

Local grower experts in the Hunter Olive Association Italian growers AOA Overseas contacts The olive center and growers in my local area Only if it did not cost a lot.

There is little interest in growers concern here in Tasmania.

Olive industry colleagues AOA Probably the AOA or the Olive Centre, depending on the particular problem.

Local growers in the association Internet Good question. Local agronomists have little orchard experience. Grower’s association contact.

Would be good to have support through PIRSA Agromillora Xavier or Marcelo consultant in Adelaide, Amanda at the olive centre.

Industry Associations Other responses: Hunter Olive Association AOOA ACO QvExtra in Spain ONZ The Olive Centre Was Mudgee Growers Association but they closed.

What do you think your association does well to serve its members, levy payers and/or Industry?

SEQOA has been a successful long lasting association that has a number of growers who have supported the association and shared ideas, problems and learning. Those who were involved years ago and didn’t wish to avail themselves of association benefits aren’t in the industry now.

WAOC has done well to raise the profile of evoo at the WA royal show to huge numbers of west Australians.

Provides information Don’t know Increased demand for australian produce Coordination of a peak body for govt representation and information sharing, R&D Annual meetings, competitions, contact with other like minded people Distribution of industry information. Attempt to promote the industry I don’t currently have an association or seek out any information from the AOA What do you think your association could do better to serve its members, levy payers and/or Industry?

Get more people to be involved and take advantage of what associations have to offer rather than go it alone.

There should be more focus in all associations for smaller, family-sized industry members; we need more players in the business to make it strong. Existing associations could well be more transparent about what they’re up to – better at communication.

Make membership cheaper, hold more conferences in Queensland Get in touch with small growers organise training, small workshop or small talks. more of the same More contact, input into research projects funded by levy, dissemination of research studies.

Many growers are small producers, many small producers feel they are overshadowed by association for the larger producers. End result don’t want to be part of, including the paying of levies. In many ways this is true. reduce the volume of imports Focus on one or two key areas. eg Economic growth of olive oil industry Act as an independent organisation

Call for an independent inquiry and review into its operations and financials and performance of staff.

What it could do better is ACTUALLY SERVE IT’S MEMBERS rather than appeasing the AOA. It could consult with its members which I have not see it do. Call for issues to be brought forward.

Cull half it’s board that do absolutely nothing.

In an increasing busy world I am not sure how they can serve us better. Locally we tend to share information and look after each other.

Be more hands-on and available to us as growers As above mentioned I have no idea as to how I can feed my ideas or complaints to the AOA in such a way that it could possibly instigate any real change, so I don’t bother.

So far all our needs are met. Although if they were able to set structures in place to influence farmers markets to have stalls representing their local areas that would be great.

Marketing the health benefit all olive oil versus other cooking oils i.e. monounsaturated fats how can you achieve when your hands are tied by the Government policies Get down to grass roots level for the small growers Get better support from government.

I consider that the Tasmanian regional olive associations were tricked into merging with the AOA, because the AOA associate membership option for regional members to remain in their local association was withdrawn shortly after the merger. The Tasmanian association lost over 50% of its members immediately. more information on world trends in the industry and competitions Cut the costs and time of attending the AGM Not try to send them into bankruptcy na continue with the same number of functions. Have noted that some functions are overly expensive and deny the small grower the opportunity of attending Need to get to basics and not get ahead of ourselves.

Nil. More info about marketing Take less money teach about marketing Continue to build a promotion profile to enhance the benefits of olive oil as a healthy consumable. independance More local advertising to show oil benefits AOA – yes SGO is doing ok Broaden the base and involve many more people to deliver a wider range of activities Too many to list WORK for the members …. keep lobbying Govt to higlight the concerns re imported products Yes. I think we only need local and National associations but with better links between the two so information and access to good speakers and information can be facilitated.

Needs a concerted effort re quality standards for all- Australian and International.

Reduce fees at AOA Conference. This year we lost about 30% of our crop due to three episode of strong wind during harvest. The cost of entering oils in the competition is significant but the cost for two of us to go to the AOA sessions, accommodation and the dinner was too much as we enjoy and learn from these meetings and have been regular attendees in the past.

More State education More consumer awareness More importer regulations Working well A million dollar question… AOA and WAOC are expensive users of fees for administrative purposes.

Productivity of board members varies considerably due to motives. Be accountable, address the mission statement and consider all of the membership. Lobbying effectively is also critical. Successes have been few and far between – health value, china trade protection, managing foreign product control, managing local product control.

More expert info on orchard management eg pruning of mature trees, unbiased assessment of alternative harvesting equipment and techniques They could ask us what we want. We never get a say in anything. What are the actual goals of the industry? Where is the future direction? What is the levy spent on? local competitions to generate skills & information Nothing – unprofessional at all levels.

Mainly educational. Networking.

The OSA currently run a very good competition and awards night.

As a regional small grower I am not convinced I get any benefit from being a member of an association.

I am not sure if the Victorian Association still functions.

Information, but not enough support when we have questions or concerns They are very supportive body of welcoming people. They are open with sharing knowledge and this has been invaluable to us. They are keen on looking at the big picture of marketing the future and competing internationally. We really appreciate that they work closely with all Australian growers small – big to ensure the whole market is captured and represented.

Annual quality testing Provides industry reports and international market insights Industry Advertises quality of Australian olive oil.

Regional association mentoring and support. National assoc only interested in major producers. keeps members updated with regular correspondence Brought in an Industry levy. Pushed the Australian standard as the benchmark standard. Has increased public awareness of EVOO Nothing at all, a total waste of time It doesn’t networking and technical functions workshops Communication of information; lobbying; investment in research.

Networking Next question?

To date nothing education, field days, communication Good communication with members AOA appears to be focused on the interests of the larger producers SGO -Southern Gippsland Olives is a good local support group Not much Caring and sharing of all things olive. Dissemination of information. Field days. Shared equipment and experience.

I don’t think they do anything well …. all seem too concerned about keeping a job Local association struggles but has relevance.

State association is a waste of money- does little to support growers- –annual competition is only benefit.

AOA- standards development is worthwhile- otherwise little value- especially for WA growers ( seems very eastern states focused).

Pretty good job considering the problems!

Keeps me informed of what us happening globally in the olive industry. Distributes helpful information on health benefits to pass on to consumers.

Produce an annual conference R+D Information Not a lot for the smaller grower apart from some process support Advertises, promotes olive products Talk and have a framework the industry works under. I cannot comment about the levy because I haven’t heard anything.

WAOC does some tasting and pickling courses and Royal Show competition.

But has small budget and membership.

The bulk of membership fees stays with AOA. Some news & info every now & then. Went to the expo in Adelaide a few years ago which was good. occasional activities and training

Association Roles 80% Respondents indicated that Australian Olive Oil & Table Olives should be the key area of support.

Associations – Focus What is the most important role(s) and the focus for an Industry Association in the future?

Promotion of use Support growers with marketing materials.

Keep a focus on all players in the industry. All too often it’s the big mouths that only get heard.

Promote the Australian product Marketing Australian olive products Support of growers International markets / exportation Assist growers and provide product awareness to public Drive demand for australian produce Education, source of information, Promoting the industry nationally & internationally. Dispersing learnings (local & international) to the relevant groups. R&D. Assisting with security from pest & disease. The agency that brings the smaller groups together so the industry acts as one.

Get more customers interested in slow food Industry news Question 86 Serving and representing the interests of growers, producers, processors and suppliers – ie. their members.

Educating consumers about evoo and table olives Professional accredited education and training for :- – young people who want to enter the industry – evoo and table olive judges – growers, producers, processors Addressing and overcoming concerns within the industry Professional lobbying at Federal and State government Collaborative global R&D projects Communication and dialogue with members Professionally qualified and experienced staff representation of growers with government and the international olive council To represent their members best interests holistically.

To help pass on information to olive growers, in our area many growers are too small to get involved in the industry There are no easy solutions to help these growers. They tend to seek the help of those of us who sell oil at markets.

Create a sustainable industry, likely through appropriate marketing to achieve a higher return per litre

Stating the name of Australia as EVOO quality/reliable producer on the map. Attack competition where this is weak, which also mean be there and awake to do so when opportunities occur!!

Fighting the loss of market share to other edible oils, specifically coconut and ricebran? and taking share from canola by clearly showing their differences in heathfulness and how they can be used in the kitchen.

Consumer education – work with users of EVOO eg: Butchers and Chefs Cohesion among all size of growers in Australia Ensure ongoing viability of the industry Portray a unified front the consumer, government and other key stakeholders Position olive oil as a better for you option to other cooking oils cost affecting of olive oil for all the consumers to consume Marketing and look after the smaller growers Educating consumers and providing practical advice to growers Education of public keeping inferior oils out of our country Maintain the standard (Australian). Lobby Governments as to the value of having a viable and diversified Australian industry. Push Governments to support and value a sustainable Agricultural industry.

To serve all members not just the public companies who control association unity to push olive oil to all consumers not sure promote local products and provide technical support For its members & by its members.

Marketing our product locally and overseas Marketing of a great product, ie Australian olives and oil. Promotion of PURE Australian oil versus overseas dumping of sub-standard products.

Promote australian evoo globally Be down to earth to growers promoting Australian olive industry, educating producers To maintain a viable industry for all size producers – to further develop international markets, particularly into Asia. As a small producer, I am very price sensitive to what I put into my groves. A base price for olives and oil would give producers certainly and incentive to increase production and invest in their groves.

Education to the public Freedom of grower To grow consumption of local product To represent all members regardless of size Unity of purpose, diversity of contributions and an international focus National marketing, Mythbusting, R&D, To PROMOTE what is good about Australian product viz Imports R & D and education (Spooner-Hart and Sergeeva for example are great). Politicking as appropriate to protect our interests.

Continue to do what it is doing.

Support olive growers Improve marketing campaigns More consumer awareness Promotion Influence the number of processors To help growers in all aspects of the industry, from planting through to selling final product, there is no one aspect that is more important than the others.

Advocacy Pressure to make o/seas produce have true labelling and is not allowed to import under cost oil.

Building and maintaining market and awareness of the “goodness” of olive products. Research and development of growing, harvesting methods and varieties.

The focus needs to be with where the growers in the industry branch out to. Exports are an unknown but would be great if there were connections Look after its members bring everyone together looking at export and the Australian industry producing good oil.

Understanding new growing systems disease control and costs of production.

Support its members general maintenance and refurbishment

Government & Industry Support

What support would you like to see from a government/industry organisation?

It’s the govts job to look after the international scene, such as ensuring cheap, subsidised imports don’t get here. All too often that weak statement is heard : “There will be winners and losers”, when explaining free trade deals. Note that THEY will never be one of the losers. I don’t elect politicians to become mealy-mouthed turncoats.

Support in the promotion of the Oz product in the World market. Also provision of incentives for R&R and production, to ensure Oz products become more competitive in the world market.

Grants and incentives to help industry Give back to the producers Tax incentives Pro australian marketing, cheaper input costs across labour, chemicals, fertilisers, water research to address industry problems government to give us a fair go.

Funding for R&D. Stricter monitoring of imported product so that products meets International and Australian standards. promotion of the benefits of Australian produced olives and oil As above Remain independent of any growers and act on behalf of all growers and producers Financial Legislative Export Marketing R&D level playing field with imported oils (dealing with fraudulent labeling and oils) To work with my business, not against it (by duplicating the resources I offer).

Transparency of operations.

That the labelling issues be sorted out so we can tell the world how good Australian Olive Oil is.

Above Support local growers and offer financial incentives. For Americans, keep the borders open. All handpicked crops are done by crews of competent Mexican workers and there needs to be rules and regulations in place to allow these jobs to be performed so workers are available.

Government: acknowledge that Australia hes a great opportunity to play with quality EVOO and try to favor this industry if and how possible. Industry: more marketing, not only focused on internet sales – from the comfy chair of home – but to the real consumers in their real languages, from the hospitality sector to the housewife. Australia is a multicultural society: it is then time to involve different cultures to spread news of the quality of Australian EVOO in their native countries.

After years of collecting levies on growers, nothing has come out of it Not one report from what I can tell. We used to get good reports from RIRDC which we could download. Since the levy, we have received ziltch even though hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent.

Funding for education – it is a health message for all ages Tighter restrictions on poor quality including imports Assistance with research into choosing varietals, how to set up groves, help maximize yields and minimize costs government pressing facilities that all members can utilise for pressing of olives and to support the prices to suite for all Tighten labelling laws and penalise offenders. Countervailing tariffs.

More on pests control and import controls Don’t let the bloody Government have anything to do with it.

Stop importing inferior subsidised oils.

Pest control of introduced avian species (starlings) Tariff on imported product that apply tariff to australian exports Some form of financial assistance to get you to the next level. putting an acceptable standard of imported evoo Advertising local produce Support a viable and diversified Australian industry Protection against import dumping. much more exposure of the benefits of oz oil and fruit product and technical support Introduce a tariff to protect our industry and livelihoods.

Support for small growers actively promoting our industry Legislation to protect the purity of the Australian product.

More stringent in control of imported olive oil Direct funding to growers education, marketing, marketing, marketing

International trade opportunities and a move toward truth in labelling for olive oil so that consumers can easily identify the quality of their purchase.

Education to the public none Support for small scale growers to get get up and started. Help with buying the equipment to get started in olive oil production Ensure EVOO is included into FTA’s Recognise medium size growers interests As above Global positioning, national promotion of Australian Product, regulation and protection of quality, penalties with teeth.

Duty and INCOMING QA on imported products none Give up on governments! Look at the backpacker tax stuffup! Attitudes to dumping!

Grower subsidies Marketing dollar for dollar campaigns Improving Export opportunities Research for pests and diseases Encourage engineering firms to manufacture olive presses in Oz rather than having to import from Italy Setting up a on line forum maybe moderated by an industry expert (paid). She/he would maybe work for 3 months and then be replaced by another industry expert and this could continue while the government/industry was able to fund it. Olive industry members could use the forum to discuss problems/successes and share ideas.

Reduction of shonky product and dishonest distribution. I don’t believe regulation on its own wil achieve this.

As above R&D Help to Australian Agriculture? Did they forget about us?

Government- HONEST LABELLING!!!!!!!!!!

Local skills we can tap into in the regions as much as possible Reduce import incentives to employ local people

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: R & D and Olive Levy ~ Part 18 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Olive Levy, Research & Development, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Industry, Horticulture Innovation Australia, Increasing Olive Yields, Levy Contributions, Market & Product Development, Olive Industry Levy Australia, Olive Industry Research, Olive Levy, Plant Health Australia, Research & Development Olive Industry

Page Contents 1 About The Olive Levy 2 Olives levy rates 3 R & D Olive Levy 3.0.1 R & D Levy Contributions 3.0.2 R & D Levies 3.0.3 R & D Research Results 3.0.4 R & D Research Objectives 3.0.5 R & D Research – Current 3.0.6 R & D Objectives and how respondents marked them on importance out of 100% 3.0.7 Respondents also gave responses to other areas they would like to see funded by the Olive Industry’s R & D Levy 3.0.8 R & D – Feedback about 10 objectives 3.0.9 Olive Levies

About The Olive Levy The olives levy was introduced 1 May 2013. Olives that are produced in Australia and sold by a producer or used by the producer in the production of other goods will attract a levy.

Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited and Plant Health Australia are responsible for the expenditure of the olive levy.

Olives levy rates Olives means any fruit from the genus and species Olea europaea.

Retail sale means the sale of olives by a producer other than a sale to a first purchaser, processor or exporter, or through a selling agent, buying agent or exporting agent.

A process relating to olives does not include cleaning, sorting, grading and packing.

The olive levy rate comprises Emergency Plant Pest Response (EPPR), Plant Health Australia (PHA) and research and development (R&D), and shown in the table below: Levy component EPPR PHA R&D TOTAL

Levy rate $0.00 per tonne $0.10 per tonne $3.00 per tonne $3.10 per tonne

The olives levy rate is calculated per tonne. GST is not applied to Australian Government levies and charges.

R & D Olive Levy 62% of respondents pay the Olive Levy.

R & D Levy Contributions Respondents who pay the industry R & D Levy showed over 48.3% pay up to $499 per annum.

R & D Levies Respondents were asked how satisfied they are with the use of the levies paid? The average answer was 5.6 out of 10.

Respondents were asked how useful was the information/outcomes about R&D to their business operation?

The average answer was 4.3 out of 10.

R & D Research Results 29.3% of respondents have never read any R & D research. 24.8% haven’t read research from 3+ years ago.

Only 28.6% had read recent research.

R & D Research Objectives Top 3 Respondent Choices: Pest & Disease, Market & Product Development and Help growers lower costs and increase yields.

R & D Research – Current Over 84% of respondents are not aware of any current research being conducted.

R & D Objectives and how respondents marked them on importance out of 100% Average respondents answer was 27%

Average respondents answer was 29%

Average respondents answer was under 23%.

Respondents average answer was 20%.

Average respondents answer is 27%

Average respondents answer is 32.3%

Average respondents answer is 38 out of 100.

Average respondents answer is 67%.

Average respondents answer is 59%.

Average respondents answer is 37%.

Respondents also gave responses to other areas they would like to see funded by the Olive Industry’s R & D Levy 500 towards sustainable industry practices, eg keeping costs and prices at a level that will sustain Producers; more emphasis on environmentally responsible (eg, organic) farming practices.

Market promotion for Australian olives assistant (eg tax relief for new/ young growers Professional education and training $150 Marketing & Promotion – online & export $100 Plant nutrition To provide a service that would make the relationship between water, climate change and olives a must read for producers. To provide information on how small growers can avoid serious alternate bearing when we run out of water and the summers are reaching 40 degree plus.

Research medicinal benefits as this is a huge opportunity to capitalize and profit for growers.

Advertising on TV Australian Olive Oil marketing Marketing Marketing advertising our product Production, market and consumption data collection, collation and publication $1000 is not enough Everything seems to be covered in a general sort of way.

Young farming initiatives staff training R & D – Feedback about 10 objectives Not interested in seeing scarce resources directed to the career-path of non-producers.

Not that important to me useless partly impressed Good coverage Most of the objectives are part and parcel of a growers manifest to be the best at what they do as it is.

It is the government policy areas that need serious lobbying. Most likely too late as most Trade deals are already signed and ratified.

Good Very few are being achieved by the Australian Olive Association Other significant objectives have been ignored by the Australian Olive Association “Mass Balancing” the needs of the Australian Oil Tree in all regions.

Realistic They are focused on administrative/political issues. We need more research on growing olives under our conditions (nutrition, irrigation, pest management) Not much Really I’m not into it at all these days. If I had better health I would be.

Most seem to revolve around funding the core activities of the AOA, which I was told at at an R&D levy proposal meeting at the Arkaba Hotel by Peter McFarlane that this would not happen. The prospective levy payers were advised that R&D funding would be determined by an expert independent committee and that levy money allocated to marketing was not in the equation as it would not be funded by the Govt on a matching $ basis.

Some are very repetitive and rather than focus on a specific outcome, I fear they will just end up spending money on developing ideas and laying out possible projects.

We don’t consider the following R&D objectives: Government Engagement and Lobbying, Promote and grow the Industry Code of Practice, Build a united olive industry at regional/state/national level?, Ensure Industry associations are well resourced and Differentiating Australian Olive Products Doesn’t make any sense at all.

Don’t waste time with Government lobbying Only interest is in biosecurity and for starling infestations that is already too late. needs more explaining to smaller growers a good range Very Good, shows we need to get to basics again.

Appropriate Do not nonsense OK.. everyone has different priorities Introspective and jingoistic all are valid and should be pursued Some seem a bit useless but can’t really judge without more knowledge.

I thought some of them seemed to overlap quite a bit. They seem quite general but I suppose they are only objectives.

They will suffice for the moment. Monitoring and measuring their success is critical. I have little faith that this will be rigorously done, unfortunately.

How are some of those R & D? Ensure Industry associations are well resourced and Build a united olive industry at regional/state/national level. The other objectives could provide a lot of value. Does bottling reduce the quality of olive oil as a post handling process? Does oxidation occur? What does olive oil as a cooking medium offer for food? Olive Lace Bug is the big pest nowadays and needs research. Research into differentiating products. Terroir of oils etc. Are table olives worthwhile?

Should I step into table olives rather than olive oil?

All good, but out of the recent AOA conference the most important matter, more than all others put together, it the future of disease in our trees. The enlightenment on the heel of Italy with its XF I refer to. If that gets here then most other matters from grove to marketing become irrelevant. we still need to focus on the grass roots Olive Levies

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Global Discussions ~ Part 19 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, International, Survey Results Tags: AOA, Australian Olive Association, Australian Olive Industry, Awards, Global Market Olive, Global Olive Industry, Improve the industry, International Olive Council, International Olive Industry, International Olive Oil Standard

Global Discussions 91.7% of respondents believe Australian should participate in global discussions.

Purpose of IOC 60% of respondents do not know the purpose of the International Olive Council

Global Discussions 85.9% of respondents believe Australia should participate in global discussion as a member of the International Olive Council.

Respondents answered whether Australia should or should not enter into Global Discussions To keep with the international standards and knowledge Australia hs high quality and high standards. We can win “gold” overseas with our products therefore we should be included in international issues.

If we want better outcomes we must participate.

I’m sure we, (Australia) have much to offer through our own R&D. Exchange in information will benefit the global producers as well as Oz. We should be part of International industry The global market can help ascertain constant sales and revenues for local produces.

No, concentrate on the development of our own industry and work to eliminate the imports.

To be aware of current issues to advance our cause Until we (Aust) have a critical mass of global production we are better to observe and react accordingly to the outcomes of the IOOC. To remain as nimble and unbound by legislation is key to our innovation and market share.

Australia should participate as an observer member. Participating members are obliged to vote in line with other members, as with members of the EU. Australia should not become a participating member. Argentina did and now it has no voice. we have in various areas the climate to produce quality product Olives are a international product and the larger Australian producers need an international market.

So need representation.

We need to be up to date with all new processes and be aware of trends overseas, I believe in total Australian focus It is a global industry and all countries can benefit from joint collaboration at many levels – particularly R&D, technological advances, sustainable practices etc

They have no interest in Aus. Or worse, they are Euro-centric & will go out of their way to disadvantage Aus growers to aid Euro growers.

The Industry is under the control of the EU. Members of the EU find it difficult to manage – How can Australia help?

We need to be protective of our olive industry.

Issues important to Australia, such as chemical parameters of what constitutes olive oil, extra virgin olive oil etc are determined by the IOC If you’re not having your say, you’re got no chance of getting your way.

We grow a product that is world wide, therefore it is important to know what the wider world is developing and how they use research as part of that development.

Because we live in the world – not just in Australia, it’s a global worwld now.

To be part of and influence the Global standard Globally traded product, WTO mandated, regularly updated by leading experts, covers 97% of global production, access to international research and best practice We need to learn but also to manage how the imports in Aust are working and how we can maintain our high standards.

Participation important but input will be ignored. IOC only interested in European production.

Don’t know much about ioc IOC never released data on the ratio (in %) between Lampante/Refined olive oil produced and Extra Virgin Olive Oil produced. IOC defends the interest of the old and rich olive oil industry: can we therefore trust IOC? I don’t think we should put Australia in the hands of this gigantic competitor, asking for fair administration. I believe, instead, that the battle for quality is fought between those who can deliver quality, and those who cannot.

I don’t believe that we at this stage of our industry should invest our meagre resources in global industry discussions. We have spent more than our fair share on this to date to no avail.

Olives and EVOO are all over the world whether we like it or not. We cant isolate Australia from the world because we didn’t invent it. If we can lead by example with high quality we want to be known world wide for that. I don’t see why we would not work with any international associations – unless they refuse to uphold the same level of quality produce – then we must lead by example with open arms (just as the AOA has done for us) IOC and AOA should merge and ensure that all the growers and the projects are supporting the same principal of quality and prices for the consumers and the farmers, we are not old but we do have good oil in Australia and get the backing of the government, do not allow EU to dump their bad oil in our laps.

Ideally Aust should but would it change anything?? it is important Australia is up to date with the world industry Spain is the biggest producer and so sets the price. It also exports a lot of lower quality oils. The industry globally needs to maintain certain quality parameters for olive oil or customers will discount it down to the value of seed oils.

I think we are part of a global market Australia is only a small player Because we are all trying to sell the same product which is good for you. better to be in the tent so our oil gets known we need one international standard not a number of country standards We all need to help each other through technology, trends, & trade. It is important to get along together and not apart. to market our product as clean and green Our industry cannot operate in isolation from the global situation for a number of reasons, eg best practice, pest management and control; climate change etc. to voice the southern region opinions Knowledge we live in a global market .. we need to be fully engaged or we will disappear.

Australian olive oil is reportedly amongst the best quality in the world. We need to have this strength reinforced at worldwide forums and we need to continue to agitate for agreed standards that will validate this quality for our international markets as well as our local consumer.

Unsure Australians are not experienced anough and have no history to contribute / climate, weather, …

Need to protect our market and recognise the barriers to entering international market such as China We need to be part of the global industry to attract foreign investment for expansion As a quality producing nation, a seat is imperative.

Need to be an active participant in order to maximise potential. if we are in it we should have our say

I think Australia should participate provided the IOC is not Eurocentric in its approach. It should be an “international” organisation We need to be on the table with the world.. but not to finance junket trips for industry members feathering their own nests Climate change is affecting us all and lessons learned globally are valuable to understand and apply here We currently compete with international producers whose quality parameters are not the same as ours. There are some serious shysters out there causing irreparable damage to this industry. Dealing with just these is a major challenge.

Must be able to present our industries perspective and have some say in issues that will affect our markets and options.

Exporting is an important part of the industry and should not be discounted. Why not be involved to see if this is a worthwhile collaboration? The current Industry Association does not focus on Exports so there isn’t any support. We are part of the Global Industry why not have a say?

Best way to know the enemy is to be in their camp……

I’m not sure what real effect we can have on the world markets its very established and self interests are apparent. much better potential for Australia and to just export good product stay out of the politics.

To improve the olive oil industry we are too small and the last thing we need is more bureaucrats wandering the world spending our resources So we are represented with international market.

Knowledge From my perspective as a small grower I am very unlikely to ever export so I would not benefit from any trade deals. Larger growers would obviously have much more to gain from global industry discussions as they would be more likely to export product.

Australian Olive Industry Research, Statistics & Information www.australianoliveindustry.com Printed on March 12, 2021

Australian Olive Industry Survey: Final Comments ~ Part 20 4 June 2020 Categories: Industry Statistics and Data, Survey Results Tags: Australian Olive Association, Code of Conduct, extra virgin olive oil, Global Olive Industry, NOVA report, Olive Industry, olive oil, olive trees, olives, Olives Australia

Respondents Final Comments I think the olive industry in Australia is on the decline which is a shame I’m little grower I don’t think my opinion will have any effect as I am not a major grower. These councils only benefit major players The Code of Conduct is the best thing that AOA do to promote quality. All growers should participate I may not have been very helpful as we are a small grower. Wishing you all the best I think that your company has been treated very harshly by the aoa over this survey they should realise that they are not the peak body of the olive industry as they do not fairly represent the small growers knowledge of person for analysis PARAMOUNT: stop calling every oil ‘olive oil’! Consumer need to realize that EXTRA VIRGIN is not OLIVE OIL! .. I know that this is not simple, but an entire revolution on perception could just be laying undetected inside a name.

Pleased to see an independent survey being conducted about the industry. Look forward to finding out more about the Australian olive industry from the survey results. There is very little if no information available / forthcoming from national and state associations, and being a paid member makes no difference to accessing information about the industry. Thanks.

Why aren’t paid positions within the Australian Olive Association advertised to the public? The same individuals have held the same positions within the Australian Olive Association for over 10 years.

Why is there no breakdown or specific figures detailed within the Annual Report of the Australian Olive Association? eg. breakdown of salaries and wages for specific positions.

I think the AOA has been very exclusive in its approach to members, overbearing to its approach to the regional associations, and non-existent to consumers. This organisation needs a complete overhaul.

Very long survey – please consider shortening in the future.

Great initiative. Looking forward to the results. keep up with good work and look after our industry and the growers so that the consumers are confident of purchasing the Australian product.

If Olives Australia in 1999 had told me that olives in Tasmania ripened in late June-July and frost could destroy ripening fruit, plus the fruit of small oil varieties could be easily consumed whole by medium size birds, I would not have planted olive trees. However, together with others producing the world’s most nutritious olive oil in this State has been a most exciting experience. It is unfortunate that the AOA don’t promote that the nutritional chemistry attributes of olive oil varies with geographical latitude and local micro-climate.(Unlike that the inclusion in the NOVA report, the AOA web site FAQ would not include that the fatty acid components vary with a grove’s geographical latitude.I was told that they would not promote regional nutritional quality attributes.) need more unity Any major olive association should represent australian brands globally in any conference 1. The cost of chemicals/poisons are far too expensive to control lace bug. 2. Our olive grove was always in a marginal area with climate. With the onslaught of Climate Change, and no winter chill as in the past, this is the end of production in our area Wonbah, near Mt. Perry Qld. The assoc is too self-centered Well done on this initiative This survey is far too long and complicated.

Q69 – we have sales ~$10,000. question doesn’t seem to allow that answer The olive grove I have is mainly a holiday farm, not really any kind of business. only have approx. 550 trees I think the industry has the problem of being dominated by a few corporate growers/ processors and the viability of remaining small is difficult if growers cannot control the value adding in the supply chain. 45k for a small olive mill is too expensive relative to sales. Make processing cheaper and having a dynamic multifaceted industry with many small players will benefit the entire industry. Let the big end of town sell the generic oil to the supermarkets and let the small end generate the creativity and variation.