Margaret Edwards
2006

In terms of the world, New Zealand is a young country, settled first by Polynesians.  It was claimed for the United Kingdom by Captain James Cook in 1769.  Visits by sealers and whalers led to small white settlements being formed, but it was not until after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed with Maori chiefs in 1840 that British immigrants began to arrive in large numbers. 

New Zealander's food culture has its roots in Polynesia and Britain.  Therefore, it is a surprise to many people, New Zealanders included, to learn that there is evidence of olive trees growing in New Zealand as early as 1830.  However, in spite of the fact that New Zealand is a world leader in horticultural research and innovation, it has taken one hundred and fifty years for a commercial olive industry to be established.  To date there are approximately one million olive trees planted in commercial groves, principally for the production of extra virgin olive oil.  Although this industry is still in its infancy, New Zealand has already made a name for itself with the extremely high quality of its extra virgin olive oils that are consistently winning gold medals at both national and international competitions.

History
Early records show that olives existed in New Zealand before 1835 as they were documented by Charles Darwin when he visited the northern-most region of the country.  Although many other olive trees were planted around this time no details about them were recorded.  However, documents from 1843 show that olives were growing successfully in the Auckland region and indeed, an early colonists' guide from the period suggests the following trees as being suitable for the New Zealand climatic conditions: Caillet; Blanquette and Picholene amongst others.  It is doubtful whether many of the trees imported at this time were true to type as it is possible they would have been grown from seedlings.

Between 1860 and 1880 two prominent early settlers, Logan Campbell and Sir George Grey independently attempted to establish an olive industry.  Logan Campbell imported 5000 olive seedling from South Australia that were planted on land he later gifted to Auckland city.  The venture only lasted a few years before it was abandoned; apparently because the yield and flavour of the oil did not match the Italian oils that Campbell was familiar with.  His legacy to Auckland, a beautiful large park, still contains several very large olive trees left from the original plantings.  Sir George Grey's efforts to produce olive oil also failed but there are no records to tell us why they were unsuccessful.  Perhaps the wrong cultivars were planted or the processing methods were unsuitable; we will never know.

In 1877 a report entitled The Report on Olive Culture was presented to the government of the day.  It emphasised the potential for olive growing in New Zealand if the recommendations as to soil type and climate were adhered to.  The report was a detailed study of the Tuscan industry.  It was ignored, possibly because of the experiences of Grey and Campbell.

We have to wait until 1960 for any further developments in the New Zealand olive story.  At this time, Ascolano, Manzanilla, Mission and Verdale trees were imported and cuttings also taken from old, well established trees.  These varieties were planted in trial blocks in sites deemed suitable.  Reports based on this work note that in the view of those undertaking the evaluation, olives should not be grown for oil production, but fruit for pickling would be a possibility. There was a cautionary note added and to quote, “before any serious attempt is made to establish commercial olive groves it would be necessary to ascertain the demand, bearing in mind that olive products can be imported fairly cheaply.”  Although this report was largely ignored, many of the trees included in the study still survive and one in particular.  Given the name J5 after the nurseryman, Milton Johnson who propagated the original cuttings from a tree found in Northland, J5 thrives in the northern regions of New Zealand.  Another 'local' variety propagated at that time from a tree found on the west coast of the North Island was named El Greco.  However, rather than being part of the olive industry, it has an important role in New Zealand for landscaping and shelter belts on rural properties.

In 1971 eight olive trees were donated by the Cretan people in remembrance of New Zealand soldiers. These trees were distributed around the country.  Trees propagated from one particular Cretan tree, have been named Kala and produce fruit that is more suitable for table olives. 

1985 saw yet another government report, ‘The Potential for Commercial Growing of Olives in New Zealand.’  This, like all the previous reports, was also ignored.  But the scene changed dramatically the following year when Israeli-born Gidon Blumenfeld retired with his wife to Marlborough and set about developing an olive industry in New Zealand.  Most of his working life had been with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation; the last thirteen as Horticultural Representative in the South Pacific.  Through his friendship with Shimon Lavee (the Israeli Professor who had cloned a new olive cultivar he named Barnea), Gidon Blumenfeld was well placed to import the Barnea cultivar with which to establish an olive grove.  By 1990 his grove, named The Olive Grove and a nursery were well established and further enhanced by the acquisition of stock from the International Olive Council's tree bank in Cordoba in Spain.  The Blumenfeld's nursery received orders for trees, especially for the Barnea cultivar, from all around the New Zealand and a modern olive industry became a reality.  Gidon Blumenfeld’s untimely death in 1991 led eventually to the sale of The Olive Grove.  Fortunately, both the olive grove and the nursery still function. 

Following the development of a fledgling industry, particularly in Marlborough, the region in the north of the South Island, most noted for producing the famous New Zealand wine, Sauvignon Blanc, the mid-1990s saw the industry experience a boom.  At this time two specialist associations, The New Zealand Olive Association (now renamed as Olive New Zealand) and Oliveti were formed to undertake research and to provide networking opportunities.  The next major steps were the granting of International Olive Council Observer Status to New Zealand in 1996 and as a consequence, the arrival of Dr Luciano Di Giovacchino from I.S.E. Pescara to conduct the first course for virgin olive oil tasters in New Zealand.  This and his welcome return in 1998 were milestones in the development of the New Zealand olive industry that led to the eventual establishment of a tasting panel for virgin olive oil.  For the first ten years, the industry concentrated largely on horticultural aspects and it is only relatively recently that the emphasis has changed to the production of high quality extra virgin olive oil.

References
Noser, G. Olives – The new passion, Viking, Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 1997.
Olives New Zealand; Integrated olive production / best management practice manual.