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for MacRury, and she’s had good dealings with the majority so far. “The industry in the formal definition has been very welcoming with their time and energy, and there’s been lots of positivity,” she said. “From a more microscopic perspective, I’ve got a couple of growers down the road who’ve been great – again, very welcoming and open to me using their trees as a supply backfill.”
- Gamila MacRury And cons “There are also people who are going to be causing pest and disease issues because they’re not working their groves, and I suspect there’s a relatively small percentage of actual farmers in the industry. That comes with all sorts of potential issues. “The lack of market education around table olives is an issue, particularly into the food service industry and around naturally fermented product. You can have that conversation with consumers, but the food service challenge is going to be a much harder one: there’s a massive difference between what they’re used to in terms of the flavour of a commercial olive and the taste of a naturally fermented olive.” Where to from here? “The goal is that the business will be financially self-sufficient and I won’t need offfarm income, nor will my physical labour be the facilitator of the business’s success. So while I’ll always bring that creative influence, I’ll potentially have less of that direct activity and
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And for the industry? “I see the number of abandoned groves increasingly exponentially unless there’s significant proactive support given for onboarding new buyers. I think the table olive sector is going to continue to grow, and it will be interesting as to how we differentiate ourselves between caustic treated and naturally-fermented olives – if we do. I think there’s a lot of opportunity in it. “I also think a lot of existing growers are going to fall by the wayside. The oil producers are of the size where they need to be doing a vast amount of marketing work to be able to differentiate – on top of all the other things to produce a good bottle of oil – and I don’t think many of them have that skill set or energy. “So then the question is how many brands do we need? Maybe we should be looking at having some boutique brands and the bulk of oil going into co-ops, being sold more viably under the one label.” More information: www.gamila.com.au.
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will have more time to put into the marketing and education, that I don’t currently have time to pursue. “And there’s also a personal side to that. My house is on the property: I like the place and the garden and the feel, so I can’t see me selling the place. Therefore my preference is for it to be self-sufficient in lots of ways, with people who are competent and trusted in their roles, so I can do the bits of the business I want to do - rather than try and juggle everything.”
In 2017 I got 700kg, after 100kg in 2016, so there was a massive learning process in dealing with that expansion.
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opportunity in the table olive sector than she expected. “I chose it because it doesn’t have the competition of oil, and you can do it on a smaller footprint, but I had no real idea of how much opportunity there is, as there are so few dedicated table olive producers. And I suspect there are going to be people who either get out of oil or come in looking at table olives instead of oil. “As an engineer I put together processes, systems and structures, which means I can put out a product that is relatively unique and has the potential for a process to be created around it, rather than a bit of magic. So the question is whether there’s a consulting opportunity there on how to create proper table olives.” And in the meantime she’s continually learning – sometimes the hard way. “Three growing cycles ago my trees got a bit sad, so I fed them appropriately, then I fed them the same last year – but the canopy had increased 300-400%, so it was nowhere near enough,” she said. “I also sprayed 57 Kalamatas around the base but wasn’t careful enough and I lost them; and in 2017 I got 700kg, after 100kg in 2016, so there was a massive learning process in dealing with that expansion. “And I’m still trying to work out processing timing. I had demand for olives five months before they were ready for sale, so I did a couple of markets then pulled them because they just weren’t ready. So now do I try and change the processes so that fruit is ready earlier or just accept that in my climate my fruit will take 18 months to be ready? I suspect it’s just like wine: you have to suck it up and wait and wait, and then wait some more.” Industry pros The “interesting mix of people” is a positive
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Mobile: Kent 0428 829 024 Mobile: Michelle 0448 965 349 PO Box 114 Riverton SA 5412 Email: oops@aussiebroadband.com.au 36 • Australian & New Zealand Olivegrower & Processor • March 2019 • Issue 111