In April 2001 two new companies involved in the olive industry were formed in Nelson. Olive Services Nelson Ltd will press, store, bottle and label olive oil, while Nelson Olives Ltd will market the end product.
Joe Cuthbertson, the current chairman of both companies, feels New Zealanders have to put the whole olive business in perspective. "We are the new kids on the block in this game," he said, " people have been dealing with olive oil and olive oil sales since before the bible was written. The Italians are past masters at this, and for us to come in and believe we are going to be able to compete on that level tomorrow, is possibly a bit of a dream. But on the other hand maybe kiwi ingenuity, and very special oil can duplicate what the New Zealand wine industry has done, and we can develop a niche market."
Commenting on the misconception that they will do well anywhere, Joe said there is evidence that olive trees will grow anywhere in New Zealand, but where a viable commercial and economic olive crop can be achieved consistently, is still unknown. Frost damage for example has devastated some South Island groves with some losing 30-40% of their trees.
A Waihopai Valley grower the writer spoke to last week reportedly lost 900 trees in a series of -9° frosts over three days, in a previous year. Some lower stems of his young trees still show rough bark scars from the swelling, and the staples in the black plastic tree support ties appear to have focused frost damage, in some instances taking off the top of small trees.
Further north it may be too warm to give the extra 'bite' to the oil to classify it in the top range. "The $100/litre oil we are talking about," Joe commented, "the oil which we will have to make if we are going to survive."
Small growers will have to work together to assure quality and consistency and to control costs such as bottling through larger numbers, and the key will be marketing. While the niche market in New Zealand has borne the initial oil on the market there will very soon be more and the prices will go down. "The only way we can compete is internationally, and we have to go out and see if New Zealand oil is as good as we think it is - enter competitions all over the place. We have to go to Europe and America and if we manage to do that, and supply a superb oil and get name recognition, then we may be able to charge these prices to justify our costs," Joe insisted.
In some situations olives have been planted with little regard to long term financial planning. While it doesn't cost a great deal initially to prepare land for olives, there is a realisation that they may not be as maintenance free as first thought. Olive trees grow very vigorously here and that growth will lead to a lot of pruning being needed. Presently 3-8 year old trees are common and once these trees reach 15-20 years old they are going to be major trees and pruning every year is going to be time consuming and expensive. "It's a factor many growers haven't built into their numbers yet."
"A good apple orchardist knows the cost of pruning, most of us in the olive industry don't. We still don't know the best way to prune our trees for New Zealand conditions either, there are lots of theories. Ask 10 people and you get 10 different answers. Which can be nice but also confusing. At the moment, particularly in the Nelson area is a group of people willing to share information and help each other. We rejoice in the success of any member of our group."
On a recent trip to Tuscany, Joe found the Italians dealing with similar considerations to ours. Though they are subsidised, on the small farms the cost of picking and pruning and the abundance of oil in the market calls for low prices.
Joe expressed his own personal opinion for those considering planting olive trees. "Don't put your life savings into it - don't give up you day job. If you have some spare money, some land you would like to put some trees in which will look terrific then go for it. There is something romantic and historical about olives. They definitely attract people for lots of reasons, but most of them seem to be from the heart rather than the head."
