Olive oil production in New Zealand? Not likely!

“The growing of olives for the commercial production of fruit for oil is not viable in New Zealand”— so concluded the DSIR after field trials in the 1960s. Even as late as 1987, MAF was advising potential growers that olive oil production was not commercially viable.

Well, contrary to that early assessment, the last two decades have seen the initial proof that, by selecting suitable varieties for specific regions, olives can be grown and can produce commercial quantities of oil in many areas of New Zealand. In more recent years, it has been shown that not only commercial quantities but also enviable quality is attainable in New Zealand – a Bay of Plenty producer has won the top prize in a world-wide competition judged in California and a Hawkes Bay producer has their product on United Kingdom supermarket shelves.

… A little history.

Some might be surprised to learn that olive trees have been planted in New Zealand since the 1800s — soon after European settlement. Some of these trees still exist in the far north and also in Auckland’s One Tree Hill Domain. Surprising is the burgeoning growth and production of olives and olive oil in the not-so-Mediterranean climate of Northland. Some of this may be explained by the use of suitable cultivars developed after some trial and error. The old Northland trees have provided stock for some of the cultivars being used today.

… Greg and Kath Scopas of Salumeria Fontana. Wine-cask taps, Italian sausages and olive oil.

Some years ago while Greg was travelling in Italy, he spent some time in the city of Bologna. It was there, while passing an old hardware shop, he saw a charming wine-cask tap. Greg thought this would make an ideal gift for his uncle who was in the wine business. Talking to the old lady behind the counter of the hardware shop, the conversation got around to sausage making. One thing led to another and Greg found himself carrying a rather weighty, old hand-operated sausage-meat grinder/filler around Bologna.
 

Fast forward to just over a year ago when Greg and his wife, Kath, saw an opportunity to purchase a commercial kitchen on a property in the countryside near Wellsford. This kitchen included an olive press and processing plant. The property was perfect - not only did Greg have a kitchen and storage for his beloved sausages, he now had the opportunity to press the olives from the trees on his newly acquired Wellsford property. It seemed natural to Greg and Kath that they should set up a sideline processing olives for oil, in addition to their gourmet meat products business.

This is just one of the many stories of how the allure of the golden oil finds its way into the lives of those who might otherwise have passed up such an opportunity.

… Fruit in one end, oil out the other.

Well, it’s not quite that simple! The process starts with the cleaning of the fruit. Fruit that has been harvested has a lot of leaves and twigs and these need to be removed. Greg has constructed an effective, though rather ‘Heath Robinson' contraption (involving a leaf blower) to perform the task.

For a second time, the fruit is passed through a leaf separator to remove fine leaves and twigs. It is then conveyed to a hammermill to crush the fruit. The pulp is heated gently to help separate pulp and oil and water. The oil also coalesces into larger drops. This part of the process takes 35 to 40 minutes but the pulp must not be heated too much, otherwise it cannot be considered extra virgin. The pulp/oil mix is then conveyed to the centrifuge where the pulp and water can be drawn off, leaving the precious oil. There is quite a lot of skill needed to manage this part of the process.

There are many variations to the process of extracting oil; some involve using hydraulic presses. The original method used to be a stone mill. Whatever the method, the aim is the same: to produce the ‘good’ oil.