New Zealand Judges Show the Way

Judges in the Olives New Zealand national olive oil awards have shown leadership by not entering their own oils in the competition. This follows controversy in last years awards when the top award went to the oil produced by the head judge.

The move to ensure that judges have no vested interest in the outcome of the competition will remove this distraction from the excellence of the olive oils winning the competition.

In Australia, judges continue to judge in the Australian Olive Oil National Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show when their own oils, or those in which they have an interest, are entered. Of the 26 judges who judged in the competition, 11 had entries in which they have an apparent interest. In the 5 extra virgin olive oil classes, two classes were won by oils which were associated with judges. Three judges had an association with the overall winner of the competition.

The report on the Australian competition acknowledged that ‘some judges were exhibitors, or had an association with an exhibit. To remove any possibility of bias, these judges assessed classes that did not include their oil, and they were at no time in a position to influence the outcome of a class which included their oil’.

It also states that at the conclusion of the judging ‘the twelve gold medal oils were subjected to blind tastings by judges working as one panel’. Three of these gold medal winners were associated with four judges. This implies that all judges judged the oils for the overall winner – unless the judges with an interest in the oils were excluded. This would have indicated to the other judges that the oils of those excluded were in the final 12. Either way the judging would be compromised.

It is notable that some Australian judges who have judged and entered their oil in the past, judged in this year’s competition but did not enter their oils.

Surely it would be much simpler and more ethical for the Australian competition to follow the lead from New Zealand and bar any judges who enter their oils.

Fresher Sounds Better Too

This year’s winners of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) award in Part A, B, and C of the Olive Oil Category are E.A.S. Heraklion in Crete (part A and B) and Chemiservice SAS in Bari, Italy (part C). The award is for member laboratories deemed to be the most accurate in a series of tests set by the Society in a given year.

A visit to the Australian Olive Association (AOA) website industry home page will find a newsflash captioned ‘Modern Olives most accurate lab in the world’. The newsflash goes on to reveal that the lab was named the ‘most accurate lab in the world in 2007-2008’ by the AOCS. Yes – but that was this time last year and the news adorned the AOA website for some months then.

So why is the AOA so keen to promote old news? It could be advertorial, or it could be a perceived need to justify accreditation of a laboratory of arguable independence by the AOA for its Code of Practice quality programme, or it could be to give some weight to the recent ‘independent’ research by Modern Olives that claims 80% of extra virgin olive oils imported into Australia failed a range of tests.

Whatever the reason, it is old news. It is like putting last years award sticker on this year’s olive oil.

In olive oil fresher may taste better, in news, fresher sounds better.

ACCC Adopts IOC Standard for Olive Oil

In carrying out an investigation into reports that Extra Virgin Olive Oil being sold in Australia was not true to label, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), used the International Olive Council (IOC) Trade Standard for Olive Oil as the benchmark for testing.

Despite stating that ‘currently there is no mandatory standard for extra virgin olive oil……’ the ACCC set a strong precedent by using the IOC standard and stating ‘The IOC standard defines extra virgin olive oil and sets criteria for purity and quality. While the standard is not mandatory, it is a useful and recognised guide for establishing the essential elements of genuine extra virgin olive oil’.

Effectively the ACCC has adopted the IOC standard for court enforceable undertakings. This could set an important legal precedent in Australia for legal actions involving specifications for olive oil.

The Australian Olive Association (AOA) President, Paul Miller, was reported by the Weekly Times (October 21 2009) as being ‘impressed’ by the ACCC’s action. He was also reported as saying ‘We would like the Australian standard to be law…….that would make life easier for (the ACCC)’.

This is unlikely as the so called 'Australian standard' – a standard developed for the AOA Code of Practice available to AOA members only – falls far short of the requirements for purity and organoleptic (taste) testing in the IOC Trade Standard. Its lack of rigour could create many problems for the ACCC in any legal challenges related to olive oil meeting specification.

It would be far easier if everyone in the Australian Olive Industry adopted the IOC Trade Standards and, to provide regional differentiation, added to them by specifying additional source and quality requirements. The ACCC action probably means that this will be inevitable.

ACCC Only Credible Independent Watchdog

It must be that time of year, an ‘independent’ laboratory has tested imported olive oils again and there are claims that 80% of extra virgin olive oils imported into Australia were not extra virgin.

Last year 'independent' tests commissioned by the Australian Olive Association (AOA) and carried out by the Australian Oils Research Laboratory claimed all the imported olive oils tested were not what they claimed to be. The independence of the AOA, which represents Australian producers, is obviously questionable, as is that of the Australian Oils Research Laboratory whose spokesperson was reported to have said on ABC Rural Report (Report from the Riverina, 29 May 2009) that he believes the (International Olive Council, IOC) Standards are too restrictive and find fault in Australian oils that are merely different – and in his opinion the best. Hardly a statement from an independent watchdog.

This year, again with uncanny timing to coincide with the AOA annual bash in Canberra, another set of tests have been released. An ABC Rural Report on 22 October states ‘A study has found that more than 80 per cent of imported "extra virgin" olive oils are falsely labelled. Lisa Rowntree, from the Australian Olive Association, which represents olive growers, says the tests were done in an independent laboratory near Geelong, and the problem makes it difficult for the local industry to compete’.

But Paul Berryman, from the Australian Olive Oil Association (AOOA), which represents olive oil importers, says very few imported extra virgin oils were found to be impure and the test was done to discredit importers. ‘Now they are obviously just deciding that the best way to market their product is to discredit their opposition’.

It may well be that Mr Berryman is right. The independent laboratory near Geelong is Modern Olives which, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Boundary Bend, is far from independent. Boundary Bend claims to be Australia’s largest producer of extra virgin olive oil and would directly benefit from a crackdown on imports. It is also highly unlikely that all imported extra virgin olive oil was tested so a claim that 80% were found to be falsely labelled is misleading.

This tactic should also worry Australian producers as the ‘independent testing’, apparently endorsed by the AOA, could also be directed at Australian brands and used to discredit them to gain market advantage.

Fortunately for the Australian Olive Industry, which includes both local producers and importers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has recently conducted an independent investigation. Testing a selection of imported and locally produced oils, labelled extra virgin, against the International Olive Council standards, only three samples, all imported, were found not to be extra virgin.

Interestingly, in using the IOC standard as the benchmark for quality and purity, the ACCC has adopted a standard which is far more stringent than the AOA standard for its Australian Extra Virgin Brand which does not require any of the tests for purity.

It would also be interesting to know whether the ‘independent’ laboratory from Geelong, Modern Olives, tested the full range of Australian ‘extra virgin olive oils’ and refined olive oils for compliance with the IOC specifications for sterol composition. Modern Olives, through its nursery operations, has been a major supplier of the Barnea variety which research has shown has a high level of campesterol causing much of the oil produced by this variety to fall outside IOC specifications for extra virgin. Boundary Bend, in buying the Timbercorp assets, has also become the owner of groves which have substantial plantings of Barnea.

Again, it seems to be a case of adopting the IOC standards when it is convenient and saying they are too restrictive when inconvenient - ‘do as I say, not as I do’.

The Australian Olive Industry representative organisations – The AOA and the Australian Olive Oil Association (AOOA) – should agree to a regime of independent testing through the ACCC to ensure that all olive oil sold in Australia meets IOC specification. This is the only way to put an end to the ‘them and us’ public brawling which harms the consumer perception of all olive oil – locally produced and imported.

Attempts to Change International Olive Oil Standards Stall

The attempts by Australia to change the Codex Alimentarius ‘Standard for Olive Oils and Olive Pomace Oils’ seem to have stalled. The Australian delegation has been leading the charge to amend the standards to allow higher levels of linolenic acid in olive oils to accommodate apparent variations in local growing conditions. Recently, the arguments for the proposed amendments have been extended to include higher campesterol levels, mainly to accommodate the high levels exhibited by the Barnea variety which has been extensively planted in Australia by large investment groves.

The higher than specification levels of linolenic acid and campesterol preclude the export of ‘outlier’ olive oils to the European Community, USA and other countries that are signatories to the Codex Alimentarius Standard for International Trade.

The levels of linolenic acid and campesterol in olive oils are important in detecting contamination or adulteration with vegetable oils.

In response to a report submitted by the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils to the thirty-second session of the Joint FAO/WHO standards programme of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Committee agreed to go back a step and circulate two alternative proposals for a footnote to the level of linolenic acid in the standards which would allow higher levels as long as three other tests were undertaken. One of these three tests would be that the campesterol level would need to be lower than 3.5% (normal allowable 4.0%) of total sterol composition. It then determined that if no agreement could be reached at the next session, the Committee would recommend the discontinuation of work on the level of linolenic acid.

Given the arguments, including those from the European Community, put forward by other delegations against the proposed changes to the standards, it is unlikely that proposed changes to campesterol levels will make any progress in the foreseeable future.

This creates a problem for those enterprises that have large volumes of olive oil from the Barnea variety in Australia which is high in campesterol. There is not enough low campesterol olive oil available locally to blend the level down to be within specification. The oil cannot be exported to countries that are signatories to Codex, and it cannot be refined as even after refining the campesterol level is likely to be out of specification for refined olive oil.

It would appear that the only option for unloading this high campesterol oil, which does not comply with international standards for olive oil, is to sell it on the local market as extra virgin olive oil as sanctioned within the Australian Olive Association Extra Virgin Olive Oil specifications.

The implication of this for other producers in Australia is that the prices for EVOO will be forced down as the large volume of non-compliant oil is sold off locally. There are also implications for New Zealand producers as standards for olive oil in Australia and New Zealand are set by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ). The apparent acceptance of the sale of high campesterol oil by FSANZ may mean that cheap high campesterol oil may overflow into the New Zealand market from Australia.

Simon Field
Olive Business

New Zealand Regions Get Ahead

The new olive growing regions of New Zealand in Marlborough/Nelson and Hawkes Bay are as close to Paradise that some of us will ever get. Interspersed amongst the world famous vines giving us great whites and much improved reds, the olive groves produce a wide array of respectable, and occasionally exceptional, olive oils.

During two-day seminars in Blenheim (South Island) and Napier (south east of the North Island) I had the pleasure of meeting the enthusiastic producers, distributors and retailers of these regions and tasting their new season olive oils. The purpose of the seminars was to provide taste training, evaluation of olive oils and blending - all from a market perspective.

Data for the size of the New Zealand market, and the local markets in each location, was scratchy. However, data purchased by Olive Business from the New Zealand statistical office shows that imports of olive oil were around 4,000 tonnes a year and local production was estimated to be around 400 tonnes. Approximately 30-40% of imports are extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), add the local production to this and we get an estimate of 1500 tonnes of EVOO consumed every year in New Zealand. This is more than three times current local production, showing that many New Zealanders are already ‘educated’ in the use of extra virgin olive oil. This makes the marketing task easier – shifting usage to New Zealand product as opposed to getting consumers to use a new product.

To Market, to Market

The first day of the seminars examined this market environment and participants tasted their own oils with special emphasis on style and flavour. Each oil was also given a commercial assessment and some interesting trends emerged. Most of the olive oils from both locations were assessed as medium or robust. There were few delicate oils and even those were on the medium side of delicate. The oils from particular varietals were generally similar. In both locations there were olive oils that had well differentiated, even outstanding, flavour profiles – but these were the exception.

Hawkes Bay seminar underway

The olive oils available were mostly of Italian varietal origin – frantoio, leccino – with some picual, koreneiki, barnea and picholene. The Spanish varieties (picual and nevadillo blanco) did not exhibit the aromatic tropical fruit characteristics expected and given that consumers are used to this style for imported oils there is an opportunity for development in this area. The absence of a range of complex delicate oils usually associated with later harvesting creates a further opportunity.

In Hastings imported olive oils off the local supermarket shelf were slipped into the blind tasting to test the ‘all imported oils are faulty’ slogan. No rancidity was detected – however the floral-ripe tropical fruit aromas of the Spanish oils, imparted presumably by the Picual, Hojiblanca and Picudo varieties in the blends, disconcerted some of the tasters.

The price difference between the imported and local brands in the supermarket is closing but still significant. In some of the smaller supermarkets the local brands were on the bottom shelf, a sure sign that they were not moving, and the packaging was mainly in 250ml bottles, a sure sign that the product is expensive.

Given all these considerations – the limitations of local production, the style of the oils, price points to compete with imports and consumer preference – seminar participants worked in teams to develop a market brief and blend oils to meet the brief.

The Blenheim ‘blokes’ team works on its blending brief

This exercise was most revealing. The openness of the participants and the determination to take the industry from its current adolescence to maturity was most productive. The briefs developed were varied, practical and all could be implemented. The process revealed the valuable collective knowledge of the teams. Gaps in the range of oils available were identified and the advantage from a taste and volume perspective of blending became apparent.

Pricing

Visits to a number of groves, including some of the largest, revealed the horticultural limitations that define productive capacity and oil characteristics. Early frost, pruning, disease, harvesting, and processing method and capacity affect the oil profile as much as the variety. Most accepted there was work to be done in these areas to achieve optimal efficiency and reduction of end price.

In the grove with (l-r) Bob Marshall, Shona Thompson, Rachael Speedy and Chris Crompton-Smith

It was acknowledged that price was both the determinant of profitability for the producer and the most important consideration with consumers. The presence of retailers brought reality to the discussions with the simple message that the price expectation of producers was too high and there needed to be adjustments to the supply chain to bring the retail price down within consumer expectation set by imported brands.

One way of reducing the price, obtaining more delicate oils and insuring against crop failure is to retain a proportion of oils from previous seasons. Generally the oils tasted were robust enough to do this. This also enabled ‘back-blending’ to reduce price and preserve particular traits for consistency. Blending with refined oils and other vegetable oils were also discussed to produce products which will compete directly with the imported ‘pure’ and light olive oils in supermarkets.

Differentiation

Differentiation in markets for the olive oils for the two regions can be achieved through Denomination of Origin (PDO) certification and ‘tested to international standard’ labelling. The testing to international standard would provide a range of chemical data to further define the health attributes of the fatty acid profile and anti-oxidants of the olive oils. The polyphenol levels from the analysis will provide data for blending for longer shelf-life.

The ‘tested to international standard’ branding would also position the complying oils ahead of the existing ‘ONZ Certified Extra Virgin’ mark which has a far less rigorous testing regime.

The ‘girls’ teams in Blenheim differentiating their oils through blending

To round off the regional advantages for marketing, both regions have well established wine and tourism industries on which to build the olive oil profile. The food culture is well developed and in most restaurants at least two local extra virgin olive oils are used. Visits to retailers showed some reluctance to stock and promote local oils because of price. There is an adage which says ‘if you cannot win in the local market you won’t win in other markets’. The intention expressed by participants is to work on this through collection and analysis of market data and more cooperation along the supply-chain.

Kiwi Oil

On a lighter note, while enjoying delicious fish and chips on the sunny harbourside in Napier, we noticed an offering of ‘green salad drizzled with Kiwi Oil’. Was this a new product to compete with Emu Oil we asked the waitress? With the confidence of youth she told us it was the oil extracted from the Kiwi fruit. We smiled when we realised that the oil is in fact a locally produced olive oil called ‘Kiwi’. There is work to be done with foodservice too.

Harnessing the Assets

The Marlborough/Nelson and Hawkes Bay olive industry in New Zealand, as reflected by participants in the seminars, is determined and talented. Their olive oils are good quality and market success will come through differentiation through taste, price and innovative marketing. The teamwork during the seminars shows that there is the cohesion, resourcefulness and increasing knowledge to make this happen.

These are the assets of the industry which when harnessed will bring its success.

Align all this with the already established local food and wine culture attracting tourism and the worldwide profile of the wines – Marlborough/Nelson and Hawkes Bay will be Paradise regained.

Acknowledgment
Thank you to all who showed typical Kiwi hospitality and endless humour, especially Phyllis and Mark Heard of Awatere River Extra Virgin Olive Oil who took the initiative to organise the seminars, and Rachael Speedy and Nigel Macintosh of Paul Holmes Extra Virgin Olive Oil who promoted the Hawkes Bay seminar. Thanks also to Andrew and Delyth Taylor of Olive Culture who took me to many groves in Hawkes Bay and taught me a lot about pruning and how to drive up frighteningly steep hills.

Australian EVOO Import Prices Down 19%

The latest statistics for imports of olive oil into Australia show a decline of 19% in the price for packaged virgin olive oil from February to May 2009. The average price per litre in May 2009 was $5.01 for packed virgin olive oil. The price of $3.66/litre for bulk virgin olive oil is a drop of 37% from the high of $5.82/litre in January 2009.

These reduced prices reflect the low prices in oversupplied European markets which are expected to continue for some time.

Quoted prices for bulk olive oil in the Australian market can be expected to fall with some anlaysts predicting an increase of 5,000 tonnes over last year for the current harvest. Prices will possibly be further driven down by the fire sale of substantial quantities of olive oil from the MIS groves in administration and the off-loading of carryover stocks from last season.

While this is not encouraging for producers, it is good news for conumers who will be able to purchase Austrlian olive oil for less. In the long term this will benefit the industry as those consumers who abandon traditional imported brands for Australian oil are likely to continue to buy the local product as prices rise again.