New faces, capacity attendance at 2025 National Olive Industry Conference

The annual olive industry gathering is always a popular event, bringing together producers and stakeholders for an intensive program of information and inspiration. Held in Adelaide from 28-30 October, this year’s event was undoubtedly one of the most successful yet, attracting a capacity crowd from across the country.

The program fully embraced the Conference theme of Productivity and profitability, sharing the latest research, best practice and technologies around ‘hot button’ industry viability topics like water, pruning, soil management and table olive production.

Along with a wide range of additional producer basics (e.g. benchmarking, marketing, equipment), the learning was covered from both practical and plenary perspectives across the Field Day, Trade Exhibition and two days of plenary sessions.

All were met with enthusiasm by delegates, with positive feedback on both the learning experience and event organisation. In particular, feedback noted the “very relevant and knowledgeable speakers”, “outstanding practical demo and commentary” during the field day grove session, and “dynamic interactions amongst attendees and exhibitors”, which provided an invaluable opportunity to access information about the latest industry-specific technologies and services.

That delegate cohort also reflected a positive trend for our industry, with an increased number of new growers and producers among the attendees – including some who are yet to plant their groves. That’s got to be the way to best ensure a future business model of productivity and profitability!

Forward planning for 2026

The AOA’s Conference team have already started planning the 2026 event, with the regional city of Mildura confirmed as next year’s location. The venue and dates are still to be confirmed but it will be held at around the same time of year.

This year’s event was a ‘sell-out’ for both the field day and plenary program, with additional potential delegates missing out on one or more elements. So if you’re keen to share in the learning experience next year, keep your diary free for mid to late October and plan a trip to Mildura. We’ll update with details as they’re confirmed in the new year.

We’ll also take a more in-depth look at the Conference and delegates’ experiences in the December edition of R&D Insights. Look out for it in your Inbox midway through the month, just in time for holiday reading.

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