Passion fuels NZ's first olive producer

It's a great place to grow olives but also a great place to gather for events which get staged at Telegraph Hill - like the Art in the Olives Festival these folk attended.

The first time many people hear about olive oil, and the myriad ways it can be used, is likely to be on a culinary television show.

Ask Jamie Oliver about olive oil, he is a passionate advocate of the stuff.

He's equally passionate about the glistening olives themselves as an ingredient in their own right.

Geoff Crawford, who steers Telegraph Hill at Parkvale in Hastings, is more than just passionate about olives - he is devoted to them.

So there was no hesitation when the opportunity arose to buy in to the olive producing company which had been started by Rose Gresson back in 2001.

To say Telegraph Hill has come a long way would be one of the understatements of the year.

It started out in a simple shed where a modest amount of table olives and oils were turned out and was the country's first producer of commercial table olives. But today the production emerges from a purpose-built olivery and something like 25 tonnes of table olives and extra virgin olive oil is turned out annually.

The location, in the heart of the Bay, is a good fit.

As Mr Crawford says - "olive oil is sunshine in a bottle".

While the industry here is a relative infant compared with places like Spain it has not taken long for those in the industry to create world-class olive products.

Telegraph Hill has an accolades list as impressive as its olives. Since being awarded Hawke's Bay Emerging Business of the Year in 2005 there have been Champion awards and silver and bronze awards year after year.

Not bad for a business that started in a shed, but grew with genuine passion ... and good taste.

Telegraph Hill:

* Howard St, Parkvale, Hastings

* www.telegraphill.co.nz

* Phone 878 4460

* Check out the Olivery Shop ... and ask how you can adopt an olive tree