a chat with Robert McGavin of Cobram Estate

Photo copyright Richard Cornish

After the recent success of Cobram Estate The Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition, Inside Cuisine had a chat with Executive Chairman of Bounday Bend (Cobram Estate) about the award winning extra virgin olive oil.

Congratulations Rob on the awards at the 2011 Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. Is this your greatest achievement? And which other awards made you particular proud?

It is up there with the best. Last year our fresh and fruity won 3 trophies for best in show in Perth, Sydney and national awards. As a business we have also won many awrds including Australian Agribusiness exporter of the year. Another very special moment was winning the best in show award in the National competition with our Cobram Estate Hojiblanca in 2009

Can you give our readers a short history of Cobram Estate?

Established in 1996, Cobram Estate is the leading provider of olive oil in Australia, and a leader in Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). The brand was launched domestically in 2001, distributing through premium stockists including The Essential Ingredient in Melbourne and Sydney, and Black Pearl Epicure in Brisbane. In 2002, Cobram Estate entered the national retail market, listing its Fresh and Fruity EVOO in Coles and Woolworths Stores. It was the first 100 per cent Australian EVOO brand to take this step. Cobram Estate launched an export range to the USA in 2003 and today exports to countries including Canada, the USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Thailand, the Maldives and Japan.

I understand that you grow about half of Australia’s olives. Is that correct? Is that difficult to manage?

We actually grow 18% of the total olives planted area in Australia. However, are national olive oil production share is 55%, so more than half of the Australian EVOO is produced by us.

What are some of the technologies you use in the olive oil processing cycle?

We have state-of-the-art processing equipment that allows us to process the olive fruit in time and under cold extraction conditions. The time that it takes for the fruit on the canopy of the tree to become oil in our tanks is approximately 6 hours!! In other words, the sooner the fruit is crushed after harvesting, the better the quality of EVOO.

How important is climate, soil and irrigation in olive growing for olive oil?

Very important, the condition of the actual olive at point of harvest is the key to a great quality EVOO. A fresh orange will give better quality juice than a week old orange….olive oil is not different…squeeze a fresh olive and you get fresh EVOO.

What is the most crucial part of the olive growing cycle?

Harvesting…needs to be done in an extremely timely manner to maximize the quality.

Is there a difference between growing olives for oil and table olives?

Not really on the growing side but table olives will generally be a different variety that have less oil in the fruit and will have larger fruit size.

I understand you also grow grapes? How does this compare to growing olives?

On the growing side the technology is similar…drip irrigation with computerized soil moisture monitoring, scheduling and fertilizer application. Generally speaking Olives are a lot harder to produce than grapes.

Cobram Estate have a number of different olive oils including individual varietals. Where do our readers get your products?

Readers can purchase the Everyday Range Light, Classic, Robust, Lemon and Garlic from Coles, Woolworths and Independent grocers, the Premium and Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive oils can be purchased from The Essential Ingredient, Black Pearl Epicure and selected gourmet specialty stores throughout Australia. And that oils are also available to purchase at http://www.cobramestate.com.au/