Olive Oil News

Olives New Zealand is conducting a training course survey. To provide feedback on what type of courses, where, when and duration, click here

The term ‘antioxidant’ should be banished from food labels and replaced with more specific claims about the health benefits of the phytonutrients and other ingredients in question, according to one leading academic.

Californian table olive distributors still have seven million cans in storage despite another disappointing crop in 2011, the head of a state marketing group said. Growers in California ended up with just under 27,000 tons from last year’s harvest, noted Alexander Ott, executive director of the California Olive Committee. That’s a mere drop in the bucket compared to the record 195,000 tons harvested in 2010.
Still, inventories grew from the 5.3 million cans on hand after last season, which is causing the committee to ramp up its marketing programs. The panel is using Twitter and Facebook and attending blogger conferences to younger consumers who aren’t as aware of California olives, even though they’ve long been grown in the state.

Spanish company Genosa has announced that its olive extract Hytolive has received GRAS status following a review by panel of independent experts.

The March-May edition of Olivegrower & Processor will hit letterboxes next week. Highlights of this edition include a feature on the Olives New Zealand 2012 Conference and oil workshop, the first of our annual harvest outlook reports, and great practical information on pruning, predicting frost and marketing. Don’t miss out – subscribe: www.olivegrower.com.au

The annual Arts in the Olives will be held this year on Sunday, May 13 (Mothers Day). The venue is once again the Worendo olive grove in Lost World Valley, 35kms south of Beaudesert in southern Queensland. Organised by the Beaudesert and District Community Arts Projects (BADCAP) and the Lost World Valley community group, the festival features a program of arts workshops in basketry, blacksmithing, stone sculpture, woodcarving, needle felting, photography and more – children’s workshops are free. This year’s theme is sculpture, with a number of excellent tutor/artists teaching and exhibiting. There will also be live music, good food and wine, and artisan stalls with hand made goods, all in a lovely olive grove on the banks of the Albert River. More information www.artsintheolives.com

Olives New Zealand has launched Certification 2012 and is now accepting oils for assessment. Snappy growers in Northland have already started their submissions and the first shipment is due off in May. All oils that meet certification requirements will be issued with an Olives New Zealand Certificate that may be used for credentialing or marketing purposes. For more information contact [email protected] or go to www.olivesnz.org.nz.