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<pre>Ian and Jenny,

Australia and NZ could do worse than imitate the Italian Kiwi fruit
saga. Some ten or fifteen years ago Italy decided to improve its Kiwi
production and purchase the latest technology and experience from NZ. It
could have done the research itself but it was cheaper and quicker to
purchase the whole lot from NZ. Last year Italy overtook NZ as the
largest Kiwi fruit producer in the world.

Italy purchased NZ technology because it was the best and in spite
of the fact that NZ is about as far as one can get from Italy and in
spite of the fact they don't speak Italian.

Australia and NZ have used California and Israel as their models for
olive oil production because they speak English yet these two area
hardly rank in the olive oil stakes. Israel produces more than USA but
not as much as Libya and a small fraction of Syria, Tunisia
etc........... US is not even the biggest producer in the Americas. We
all know small is beautiful but what is minute? Ridiculous? It seems to
me that it has left Australians and NZ with the strangest collection of
obscure olive oil varieties. Beside the problems with Manzanillo which
it is now admitted is really a table variety there seem to be large
plantings of Barnea, Verdale and Mission. These may well turn out to be
world beaters - I certain hope so for the sake of the grower who have
invested so much in them - but at the moment they are not major
varieties on the world scene.

Well that is the past - what now? I think that growers ought to
start with a simple checklist. Using the wine industry as an example
they should start like this:-

Box wine or bottle?
White, red or rose table wine?
Sparkling?
Port or sherry?

With olive oil it might go something like this:-

Bulk olive oil or EVOO?
Bitter and peppery or sweet?
Fruit what type?

When you have selected the product you wish to produce select the
group of varieties that are considered the most suitable. Obviously
there are other factors such as soil and climate which will influence
the flavor of the oil you produce but variety is a major determinant.
And........ one other thing don't worry too much about the oil
percentage. It is oil yield that counts and the statement on page 145 of
the Olive Production Manual from the University of California (adopted
as holy grail in the southern hemisphere) that says you need a minimum
of 20% oil to be profitable eliminates most of the Italian industry and
certainly all the top quality areas of Umbria and Tuscany.

Cheers Brian Chatterton



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