Production and Consumption
Olive Oil
Production of olives in Australia is not properly captured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), as olives are not designated a major commodity in their survey. Further, the ABS survey is too small to provide accurate data on olive production, and the survey data is collected from primary producers with an estimated annual value of operation greater than $5,000.
PIRSA (Primary Industries and Resources South Australia) has conducted a survey of olive tree nurseries for four years, the last survey being in June 2000. This survey would appear to provide a better indication of the potential olive production in Australia than the ABS data.
Table 1 shows the results of the 2000 survey. The sales column represents numbers of trees sold into each state from all of the nurseries historical sales records. The orders column represents firm orders of olive trees to be sold into the corresponding states over the next 1-2 years.
Table 1. Olive tree sales and orders from Australian nurseries.
|
Total Sales
June 2000 |
Orders
2000-2002 |
Total sales plus orders
2000-2002 |
NSW |
1,314,745 |
611,372 |
1,926,117 |
SA |
747,989 |
507,803 |
1,255,792 |
Qld |
828,520 |
268,000 |
1,096,520 |
Vic |
917,315 |
644,362 |
1,561,677 |
WA |
661,240 |
941,550 |
1,602,790 |
Tas |
105,573 |
2,157 |
107,730 |
NT |
2,000 |
300 |
2,300 |
Unrecorded |
100,000 |
|
100,000 |
Total |
4,677,382 |
2,975,544 |
7,652,926 |
Area (ha) |
18,710 |
11,902 |
30,612 |
The sales of olive trees increased by 82% in the 15 months to June 2000, while the orders of olive trees, although still substantial at almost 3 million, have slowed compared to the trees on order at the time of the previous survey in March 1999.
PIRSA have estimated the balance between Australian olive oil production and consumption based on the tree numbers above. Table 2 below details these estimates.
Table 2. Australian Olive Oil Production and Consumption Balance (tonnes)
|
Total Oil |
Virgin Oil |
Pure Oil |
Current consumption (98/99) |
22,549 |
5,600 |
16,848 |
Projected consumption (2006) |
23,500 |
5,300 |
18,000 |
Projected local production (2006) |
28,000 |
17,000 |
11,000 |
Source: PIRSA and Davies G and Cook V , Make it for Market, Australian Olive Assn, Annual Conference, Kingaroy, 1998
Assumptions
- It is assumed that domestic consumption is nearly equivalent to imports (note 1998 import figure is used here-imports in 2000/01 were 30,000 t)
- Half of the current orders are planted in the next year; therefore some six million trees to be nearing full production by 2006
- 90% of fruit is used for oil
- Average yield of 35kg/ tree
- Average 15% oil yield
- 60 percent, or 17,000t, is virgin quality.
These estimates, while relying on certain assumptions, demonstrate that the production of olive oil in Australia is very likely to approach domestic consumption by 2006. In any case, there will be a need for a major portion of local production to be exported.
Australian imports of olive oil in 2000/01 were 31,000 tonnes, an increase of 20% over the previous year. Imports comprise some 96% of the consumption of olive oil in Australia. Imports have fluctuated significantly year to year, depending in part on world production which at 2,590,500 tonnes in 2000/01 was close to the record production levels reached in 1996/97. Overall, Australian olive oil imports have exhibited a strongly rising trend throughout the 1990’s.
The major countries exporting to Australia are Spain (60% by volume of 1997 imports), Italy (30%) and Greece (8%).
Per capita consumption of olive oil in Australia is some 1.2 litres, having risen steadily from 0.7 litres in 1990, to an annual rate of 5.6%. Australia has the highest per capita consumption of olive oil of any country outside the Mediterranean region. Greece, at 15.6 litres, has the world’s highest per capita consumption, followed by Spain (10.8) and Italy (9.9).
Increasing olive oil consumption in Australia is following the trend in other new olive oil markets including the USA, Canada and Japan, while consumption in traditional olive producing countries has been flat.
Table Olives
It is estimated that Australian production of table olives in 2006 will be between 12,000 and 21,000 tonnes. This is based upon the tree survey figures from PIRSA detaiuled above, and assumes that table olives account for 10% of total olive production in Australia and the fruit yields between 20 kg and 35 kg per tree.
Imports of table olives account for some 94% of Australian table olive consumption by volume
Australian consumption of table olives in 2006 has been forecast at 10,210 tonnes by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. While this forecast was made in 1999, it is useful to compare this with the forecast table olive production, which shows that domestic production will at least equal and quite possibly exceed domestic consumption of table olives by 2006. Per capita consumption levels of table olives in 1990 were 0.362 kg, and this is forecast to rise to 0.502 kg in 2006.
Olive Associations, Processors and/or Marketers
There are 36 olive grower associations that are members of the Australian Olive Association. The break-up of these by state is:
- NSW 13
- Qld 7
- WA 8
- Vic 2
- SA 2
- Tas 2
These associations are at different stages of development. A few have formed co-operatives and have put significant capital into processing and storage capabilities and developing brands and markets. The Hunter Valley Co-operative, with the Hunter grove brand, is an example of this structure. Other associations, which may cover relatively new olive groves act mainly to provide a networking role to growers and are focused on production issues.
There are two Australian companies which currently are predominant in the marketing of Australian olive products. These are The Barkworth Group, which owns the Viva brand, and Gwydir Grove, which has a marketing company called Origin Olives. Viva processes olives for oil and table fruit at two locations in Queensland and South Australia. It has achieved distribution of its products through Australian supermarkets. Origin Olives has a focus on developing both domestic and export markets. It sources some olives from Gwydir Olives (which established Origin) but buys the major portion of its supply nationally.
There are a number of processing facilities around Australia for olive oil and to a lesser extent for table olives. Viva processes both oil and table fruit.
In the North East region, there are at least 3 continuous processing facilities with a combined capacity of 5.5 tonnes per hour. In addition, there are at least four smaller oil processors with a combined capacity of 950 kg/hr.
Extracted from the North East Victorian Olive Industry 2002-2006 Strategic Marketing Plan
