​There is nothing more to do in the Olive Grove apart from monitoring your fruit for ripeness and preparing for harvest.
Some olives seem to have ripened earlier this year with low crop levels and lots of high temperatures, but remember that maturity is more than skin deep.  Olives that have a black skin are not necessarily ripe on the inside as can be seen in the Colour Maturity Index below.  When the flesh starts to change colour and become more purple (see 5-7) the oil content increases and the bitterness decreases.  Try to get a mix of colour between CMI 3-7 for a balanced flavour and good oil percentage.

​Make sure under your trees is clear for harvest, gather your harvest equipment and harvesters and think about booking a pressing date.
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Pressing Fees
After holding our pressing fees steady for the last four years we have reviewed our costings and unfortunately have to increase fees this season.  Shareholders will now have to pay $1.25 (plus GST) per kg and non Shareholders will pay $1.75 (plus GST).  The charge for leaf blowing will remain the same at .50cents per kg.
 
Olive Pomace Waste Returns
This season we are trialling a small circular economy which could also benefit your olive trees.  We are encouraging growers to take away their pomace waste (the end product after extraction of oil) which is full of nutrients and organic matter to nourish your olive trees.  Those who are interested in taking part in the trial are encouraged to contact Mandy at [email protected] so we can help you plan for what is involved.  The pomace is a think sludge so will need leak proof receptacles for transport from the press which you will have to supply.  You will also need to think about how you will apply it around your trees. If you do want to take part in this trial there will be a 0.05 cents per kilo rebate on your pressing fees.
 
Opening Dates and Bookings
We will be taking bookings from 6 May but the Press will not be open for pressing until Monday 14 May.
To make a booking please first read the Supplier Responsibilities Form to remind yourself of requirements.
Then you will need to fill out a Supplier Declaration Form and email that through to the Booking Co-Ordinator at [email protected] together with your proposed delivery date, time and anticipated volume of fruit.  The Booking Co-ordinator will then negotiate a delivery time.
When you deliver your fruit bring in your Supplier Delivery/Collection Form (this is really important for contact details and invoicing) and your receptacles for oil.  These must be clean, clearly labelled to link to your Supplier Delivery/Collection Form and either stainless steel or food grade plastic. Glass is unacceptable.
Fruit delivered should be freshly harvested (ideally within 24 hours), clean and free from excessive leaf, twig, dirt, grass, etc.  Excessive leaf/twig will necessitate processing through the leaf blower before pressing and that will incur extra cost.  This will be assessed at weigh in on delivery.
If you deliver fruit in large a 300-400kg bin it should have slots/feet for the forklift to lift and tip from a height.  Smaller delivery volumes can be tipped into onsite bins on arrival for weighing.
300kg is the minimum volume to guarantee your own olives pressed separately.  Those with smaller volumes will go into a combined pressing with other small growers. The Booking Co-ordinator will arrange these times.  You will get an oil return proportional to the volume you delivered.
When you pick up your oil you will be given a Pressing Receipt which is your record of your volume delivered, fruit quality and oil extracted.  You will be invoiced separately later.
If you are participating in the pomace waste trial you will need to pick up your waste when you collect your oil.
Remember the Olive Press is located on private property with many vehicles operating in close quarters.  Please keep to the designated area and follow the signage, for everyone’s safety.
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 Olive Oil Shortage
There is a worldwide olive oil shortage and demand is high.  Crops across Marlborough seem quite variable with some groves completely devoid of fruit so if you have fruit then definitely pick or offer it to someone else who might be able to.  Marlborough olives are too good to go to waste especially when we have a very good Press just waiting for harvest action to extract that wonderful olive oil.
Let’s get every olive off every tree this year!!

Temperatures have dropped, especially at night, and Marlborough is feeling more Autumnal.
 
Your trees should be breathing a sigh of relief after a very demanding summer of high temperatures and little rain.  They will be looking green and fresh with fruit growing in size. Probably a bit of new foliage growth as well. You may start to see some colour change in your fruit over April but it will be slow and there is still a long way to go before ripeness.
 
Grass is starting to grow again along with the weeds so keep that growth under control as we head towards harvest time.  If you spray to control under tree weeds then this is your last chance before harvest withholding periods kick in.  Don’t use animals to keep the weeds down as they should have been cleared out of the grove last month to comply with the 60 day withholding period for biological contamination.
 
Start thinking about your harvest equipment –bins, buckets, rakes, mats, gloves, etc. Check them all and clean them ready for harvest. Do you have enough receptacles for your oil?  They should be Food Safe and clean (preferably with a plug not a tap) and be a reasonable size to accommodate your anticipated yield.

If you are fortunate enough to have a good crop this year then definitely harvest as there seems to be less crop in Marlborough generally so demand will be high.  There is already a worldwide shortage of olive oil and supermarkets can’t stock their shelves, so all NZ grown oil is very precious.  Talk to producers and offer crops you may not want to pick but can be harvested by others.  The Olive Press Facebook page can help you connect with others. 
 
Our Marlborough olive oil is too good and too scarce to go to waste.

 
 
Olive Pomace Waste
 
Pressing olives for oil results in a lot of waste.  The oil, that we all want, makes up only 15-20% of the olive fruit from which it is extracted.  This leaves up to 85% of waste product. For the Olive Press this is an expensive product to dispose of and as prices increase, we are looking at ways to minimise pressing costs and also create a small circular economy. 
 
This season we are offering the opportunity to take your olive pomace away with you when you pick up your olive oil.  This will be on an experimental basis as we trial it this year. So let’s look at some facts.
 
Olive pomace is a thick sludge, the main residue of the olive oil extraction process. It is the remaining pulpy material after removing most of the oil from the olive paste and it consists of pieces of skin, pulp, stone, and olive kernel.
 
Pomace has a moisture percentage close to 70%. Besides water, olive pomace contains carbohydrates, lipids (remaining oil), phenols, a number of inorganic compounds, and it has an average pH of 4.8–5.2.  It is rich in potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous and magnesium.
 
It can been used as a fertiliser/compost for olive trees because of the nutrients and the organic matter it adds to the soil. The polyphenols also have a phytotoxic and antimicrobial effect which aids with weed control.
 
 
Think about what you could do with this valuable waste product to utilise its nutrient benefits and if you would like to take part in the trial there will be a rebate on your pressing fees.  Please email Mandy by the end of April at [email protected] if you thinks this could work for you.

 
 
Shareholdings
 
Shareholdings in Olive Press Marlborough are fully allocated so there are no shares immediately available.  However, there is a process by which shares can be transferred from people willing to sell and those who want to buy. Properties sell, people move away or circumstances change so we know there will be some share movement.
 
As all shares must be sold or purchased through Olive Press Marlborough we are starting a list of those who want to buy and those who would like to sell some or all of their shares.  We will then match up a buyer with a seller and send through the appropriate paperwork for a Share Transfer.  There is a bit of form filling involved but it is very straightforward.  This matching of buyer and seller may not happen immediately but a list of those willing to sell will be helpful when requests for shares come through.