Profile feature
“For example, there was a pruning demo and since I got back I’ve pruned 400 trees with a chainsaw. Some are a bit on the wonky side but the grove is looking so much better. I’m really excited: I did it in three days and it’s completely revolutionised how I’m feeling about the pruning. “So it’s taken longer than I expected to start seeing the benefits of what I’ve been doing but I feel like I’m getting some traction in the marketplace and people are starting to recognise my products. There’s also a definite demand for table olives in Tasmania and as I structure the business to make it viable, that needs to include table olives. It will probably also involve me doing contract pressing.” Industry pros Makowski said the people are what really make ours a great industry. “The first conference I went to, I was really struck by how open and helpful everybody was,” she said.
“I think there’s a real passion and belief in olive oil and olives being awesome products, and people generally just really want to find out how they can share that with other people.” And cons “As a bit of a control freak, it’s not having control over lots of things – like weather. That’s a bit frustrating. That would be the same for all small food producers: you can only control so much in your immediate environment and then there’s all the stuff you just have to make the best of. “Also the cost of postage, which limits selling our products further afield to some extent. For small producers to be viable it helps to have access to a wider market than you can physically touch from here in Tasmania.” Where to from here? That viability is an important part of Makowski’s end game plan. “Ultimately I want it to be a viable business
that will cover its costs, including labour. And to make a product that’s of value to people and that they’re able to afford to buy,” she said. “We bought this property with the intention that we’ll be here forever, so my dream is to be able to grow it and watch it develop over the next few decades. “And I think there’s potential for a very bright future in the industry. Australians are becoming more aware of the benefits of olive oil and there’s an increasing interest in table olives, particularly with the growth in fermented foods in general at the moment. “Australian food also has a very strong reputation overseas, so there’s definitely a demand for our table olives elsewhere in the world too.” More information: www.freshfieldgrove.com.au.
Gamila MacRury, Gamila at Beechworth
Gamila MacRury has a heads-up over many small-scale olive growers, her ‘day job’ as an engineer providing a skill set many would kill for. She has 600 trees on her 12 acre property, and also grows saffron. Production and markets MacRury’s fruit is used exclusively for table olives and she also produces olive leaf tea. Her nine-year-old trees are just reaching maturity, so she’s only been marketing her olives for the past 18 months. “At this stage it’s only farmers markets and this season I’m starting into retail shops,” she said. “I mostly do Melbourne, because I live near a bunch of Italians who like my olives but have their own. I do the two Melbourne markets on one weekend and the Beechworth market on another but because I still work full time, the more markets I do the less farm time I have. So I do the first and third, with alternating weekends to work on the farm. “I also sell online but with the weight and cost of postage – $8 for a bag of olives and $9 for the postage - selling olives online is in reality unfeasible.” Personal involvement MacRury says the business is “fundamentally, just me. I do everything and mum, who’s a gardener by trade, helps out with labour and advice. “I’m an engineer who grew up around horticulture, so I figure out what the plants need and how to keep them happy. I design all my own feeding and spraying programs, irrigation, and I pick, process, monitor, taste and market them.
Gamila MacRury incorporates her engineering skills into all facets of her grove and business, Gamila at Beechworth.
“This is probably the last year I’m going to be able to do that, though, as by 2020 nearly half the grove will be at full capacity. We’ll probably be pulling off close to 6T – which is either a big problem or a big opportunity. Last year I took five weeks off work and did the harvest full time and I’ll need to do that again this year.” Entry point Olives weren’t actually on MacRury’s radar when she bought the land. “It was a deceased estate, the right thing at the right price. There was no plan, I just wanted to own some land,” she said. “Then I bought some crappy olives from a nursery in Melbourne - $2 each in the junk section – dug 20 holes with a pick, mattock and spade, and the next year did the same
with another 60 trees. Again, they were just random trees but that year I found myself a petrol augur, which made life much easier. In year three I got more serious about it - 150 Kalamatas plus pollinators from Modern Olives, and a tractor - and then in the fourth year I planted the rest of them. “As horticulturalists by background, we always come at things from a soil and climate perspective, so it was ‘What could work in this climate? Olives would be quite good’. And the property is too small for viability with oil, so it was always table olives - although I didn’t put any thought in at the time about how they were going to be processed.” Life in olives now MacRury believes there’s now more
Issue 111 • March 2019 • Australian & New Zealand Olivegrower & Processor • 35