The Olive Press collapse: Fears for local olive growers and olive oil supply

The leading producer of premium olive oils in New Zealand has gone into liquidation, raising concerns about the future of the local olive industry.

After 27 years, Wairarapa-owned and operated The Olive Press will be wound up, marking the end of one of the country’s most recognised olive producers.

Rod Lingard, director of The Olive Press, said the shutdown did not bode well for the national industry.

“As the country’s only registered wholesaler of certified premium olive oils, the company’s closure means local food service customers will need to revert to sourcing inferior imports, assuming these are even obtainable given the escalating disruption to global supply chains.”

Lingard said the company’s registered grove owners throughout the region would be hit hard by the liquidation, with few options for dealing with their commercial crops.

“Our former growers face a disheartening choice: they either sell their premium-quality fruit to another commercial processor or distributor outside the region, or they simply leave the olives on the tree.”

The Olive Press head said they had been forced to close the award-winning olive mill due to a lack of investor interest in the company’s plans to boost the industry.

While he said the company’s shareholders were “devastated”, they had decided “to accept it’s time for our two families to move on”.

Lingard was also critical of the industry’s governing body, Olives New Zealand, which he said had not developed a growth strategy or marketing plan over the past three decades.

He noted the Government had withdrawn the body’s research funding, further weakening the local sector.

“Without government taking a more proactive approach to securing the local production of authentic high-value foods such as olive oil, the industry’s poor governance will continue to discourage investment in the sector despite its global reputation as a superfood producer.”