22 Jan Australian Table Olives – An Overview 2019
Global production of table olives:
The top producers of table olives by country1 are (1000s tonne):
1 International Olive Council- December 2018
Ref: https://www.internationaloliveoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/production3_ang.pdf
2 Australian Olive Association
Australian table olive production:
According to industry estimates there are some 125 table olive producers across Australia with a total grove area of around 1,000 hectares, producing an estimated 3,000 tonne of fruit per annum. Ours is largely a boutique industry, with 80% of table olive producers having less than 5 hectares, and only 5 known producers with more than 40 hectares – by far the largest being Tree Tops Plantation (Riverina Oils & BioEnergy Pty Ltd) situated in the NSW Riverina with 125,000 trees producing 1,000 tonne of table olives per year. The major olive production states are NSW, SA, WA and VIC.
Major Exporters of Table Olives:
The top exporters of table olives by country1 are (1000s tonne):
1 International Olive Council- November 2018
Ref: https://www.internationaloliveoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/exportations3_ang.pdf
2 Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook (Hort Innovation)
Australian table olive exports[1] in the 2018-2019 reporting period was 80 tonne, with a total value of A$0.4 million.
The quality of Australian table olives is of a high standard, but ours is a small developing industry that primarily supplies the local boutique market, and small retailers. These enterprises will need to be scaled up if they are to achieve the price points and reliability of supply required by the major retail chains.
[1] 2018-19 Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook (Hort Innovation)
Major Importers of Table Olives:
The top importers of table olives by country1 are (1000s tonne):
1 International Olive Council- November 2018
Ref: https://www.internationaloliveoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/importations3_ang.pdf
Table olive imports to Australia:
According to IOC[1] data, Australia imported around 17,000 tonne of table olives in each of the last 11 crop years, reaching 17,260 tonne in the 2017/18 crop year, or 2.7% of world imports.
[1] IOC Newsletter #143 November 2019
Greece stands out as the main supplier to Australia, with 60.2% of the imported volume (10,385 tonne), followed by Spain with 22.4% (3,861 tonne), Italy 5.4% (932 tonne) and Turkey with 4.5% (770 tonne). The remaining source countries total 7.6%.
Australian apparent consumption of table olives2 (domestic production plus imports, minus exports) for 2018/19 is estimated at 21,500 tonne or 0.9 kg / person, with imported table olives comprising at least 75% of Australian domestic consumption, highlighting the opportunity for import replacement.
Ref: https://www.internationaloliveoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/consommation3_ang.pdf