Olives New Zealand

Focus Grove

Despite the atrocious weather, around 60 people attended the Wairarapa Field Day in October 2018.

FOCUS GROVE PROJECT – “INCREASING THE MARKET SHARE FOR NZ EVOO”

Current Status

The fifth round of Focus Grove visits and Field Days was carried out by the two consultants engaged as part of the projects; one from Plant and Food Research and one from Forty Groves Ltd, in October 2018. Also attending were Esteban Santipolio from Argentina (NZ EVOO Awards Head Judge) and Dr Vera Sergeeva from Australia (plant and disease specialist. Mr. Santipolio attended all visits and Dr Sergeeva attended all except Wairarapa.

The report on the October Focus Grove visits and Field Days will be added below when available.

Background
New Zealand consumes approximately 4m litres of olive oil annually of which the New Zealand produced product makes up less than 10%. There is therefore a significant opportunity for local producers to increase their market share.

The two biggest challenges facing the local producers is productivity (the ability to supply) and the cost structures. While there are more than 400,000 trees in New Zealand capable of producing around 1.8m litres of olive oil, currently production is less than 25% of that figure. The industry is also challenged with biennial bearing and other factors (disease, weather) that can devastate a potentially increased harvest.

The Focus Grove Project is aimed at “Increasing the Market Share for NZ EVOO” by identifying basic grove management practices to enable the industry to consistently lift production and also reduce costs. This project runs from July 2016 to October 2018 at a total cost of $140,000. Olives New Zealand is most appreciative of the financial assistance for this project received from the Sustainable Farming Fund, co-funding from Olives NZ members and Regional Groups and in-kind funding by various participants.

Expertise has been contracted from Plant and Food Research in the form of Dr Stuart Tustin.  Plant and Food Research are recognised globally for their research and technical support services to the horticulture industry. While Stuart Tustin has a history in the development and productivity of deciduous tree fruit crops, including intensive orchard production systems, orchard canopy architecture and planting systems design. He is involved in international collaborative projects. For more information on Stuart see Stuart Tustin – The Orchardist    Thanks to Rose Mannering and The Orchardist for approval to reproduce this article.

The Focus Grove Project will benefit all stakeholders in the olive industry, growers, processors, suppliers, etc. For more information on the Project “Increasing the Market Share for New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil” see the following documents:

2016 Project Startup Meeting Minutes
2016-17 SFF Extension Plan
2016-sff-funding-and-milestones
Increasing the marketshare for NZ EVOO – presentation by Stuart Tustin October 2016
SFF Project 404831 Milestone M03 First Report – November 2016
2017 SFF Project 404831 Interim Project Status Report
SFF Focus Grove Project – Diseases Fact Sheets
SFF Project 404831 Milestone M06 – Regonal Field Days March 2017 Report
2017 SFF Project 404831 M07 and M09 Third FocusGroves and Field Days Report
2017 SFF Project 404831 Milestone M09 Conference Presentation
Olive Canopy Management Fact Sheet 1
Disease Management Fact Sheets – updated November 2017

March 2018 Documents:
Canopy Management Fact Sheet 2
2018 SFF Project 404831 M10 Milestones Report
2018 SFF Project 404831 M10 Milestone Report – Appendix

October 2018 Documents

September 2018 Executive Officer Report
September 2018 Executive Meeting Minutes 
2018 SFF Project 404831 M14 & M15 Milestones Report
2018 Conference Presentation
Anthracnose Bulletin – October 2018

Thank you to the following contributors to the Focus Grove Project. Without your support the project would not have been approved.

There have also been a number of donations from people who wish to remain anonymous.
In addition thanks also to the Focus Groves who have already incurred costs of $4,000 per annum for the pilot project and will continue to incur these costs for the next three years of the Focus Grove Project:
Hawke’s Bay – Aquiferra
Wairarapa – Leafyridge
Nelson – Kakariki
Canterbury – Terrace Edge.

Typical pledges have ranged from $300 – $1500 and your contribution would most appreciated. For a Pledge Form click here   Pledge Form