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<pre>Subscribers will remember we posted a pitiful result from our Manzanillos
at Easter - less than >1% oil on the Oliomio 100. This trace of oil was
also bland to the taste.

Peter Caird described the fruit in these terms: "Manzanillo fruit that was
approximately 85% coloured from green. There was much ripe black fruit
when, upon doing the squeeze test, did not reveal any oiliness typical of
this variety."

To be fair to Peter et al, we decided to have another batch of M's
lab-tested for oil. This latest batch was picked on 1 June and
machine-pressed the next day at Australia's IOOC-accredited Laboratory. The
Lab used the maximum amount of talc allowed by the IOOC (5%) to try to find
"usable oil".

Oil on this occasion? A handsome 1.3%. Yes, up from 1% to 1.3%! The fruit
was described by the Lab as being very ripe. They observed that the M's
were "right at the upper end of ripeness" and as having "a very high
maturation index". We can vouch for that as pickers.

The Lab commented that, really, the only way to get more oil from our M's
would be to use chemical solvents - which would yield "industrial-type oil
only". No nice Extra Virgin Oil. Not even Virgin. Just industrial-type oil,
whatever that means. Imagine trying to build a quality business on that!

We'd be delighted to find oil in any of the 3 categories referred to by
Julian Archer in his recent posting. But presumably he didn't have in mind
industrial-type oil when he observed that the price "attained for oils of
each category will depend on the market you are selling to"? We have no
intention of selling cheap and nasty oil. It's quality we are after. But
those pesky Manzanillos of ours don't seem to have either when it comes to
oil: quantity or quality.



Ian Fraser & Jenny Davidson
</pre>
</td></tr></table>

<table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing="0"><tr><td>
<pre>Subscribers will remember we posted a pitiful result from our Manzanillos
at Easter - less than >1% oil on the Oliomio 100. This trace of oil was
also bland to the taste.

Peter Caird described the fruit in these terms: "Manzanillo fruit that was
approximately 85% coloured from green. There was much ripe black fruit
when, upon doing the squeeze test, did not reveal any oiliness typical of
this variety."

To be fair to Peter et al, we decided to have another batch of M's
lab-tested for oil. This latest batch was picked on 1 June and
machine-pressed the next day at Australia's IOOC-accredited Laboratory. The
Lab used the maximum amount of talc allowed by the IOOC (5%) to try to find
"usable oil".

Oil on this occasion? A handsome 1.3%. Yes, up from 1% to 1.3%! The fruit
was described by the Lab as being very ripe. They observed that the M's
were "right at the upper end of ripeness" and as having "a very high
maturation index". We can vouch for that as pickers.

The Lab commented that, really, the only way to get more oil from our M's
would be to use chemical solvents - which would yield "industrial-type oil
only". No nice Extra Virgin Oil. Not even Virgin. Just industrial-type oil,
whatever that means. Imagine trying to build a quality business on that!

We'd be delighted to find oil in any of the 3 categories referred to by
Julian Archer in his recent posting. But presumably he didn't have in mind
industrial-type oil when he observed that the price "attained for oils of
each category will depend on the market you are selling to"? We have no
intention of selling cheap and nasty oil. It's quality we are after. But
those pesky Manzanillos of ours don't seem to have either when it comes to
oil: quantity or quality.



Ian Fraser & Jenny Davidson
</pre>
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