Cobram Estate Olives: Large Scale + Sustainable

Cobram Estate Olives (Cobram), produces olive oil in California and in Australia, where it was founded in 1998. A large-scale producer of high-quality oil, Cobram is Australia’s largest olive oil producer. Just how large? They own Australia’s largest olive tree nursery, two bottling and storage facilities and three olive mills, each capable of milling olives at a rate of 144 tonnes per hour. They have more than 16,000 hectares (close to 40,000 acres) of farmland in Victoria and New South Wales, over 2.4 million olive trees planted, and produce an estimated 72% of Australia’s total olive crop.

The company is also incredibly successful. In 2023 they reported a 21% year-over-year boost in sales, to $169 million. Cobram Estate sales in the US surged 69% and turnover in the market reached $43 million, an increase of 46%. But it’s their hope to be known for sustainability, not just size.

Background

Paul Riordan and Rob McGavin both graduated from Marcus Oldham College, a private agricultural college in Victoria, Australia, in the 1990s. Soon after, they partnered to launch Boundary Bend Limited, a company exclusively focused on the production of extra virgin olive oil. In 1998, they launched Cobram Estate Olives.

Interested in expansion, McGavin and Riordan initiated market research in 2015, and developed headquarters and a processing facility in Woodland, California, in the Sacramento Valley. The region’s Mediterranean climate supports the cultivation of a diverse range of olive varieties, and conducting operations on two hemispheres ensures “extra virgin olive oil of the highest quality year-round,” says Cobram’s marketing associate Emma Koefoed.

Olive Cultivars in Australia & the US

Cobram Estate Australia and Cobram Estate USA are one business, though the two entities operate independently of one another. In Australia, olives varieties grown include Picual, Coratina, Manzanillo, Koroneiki, and Hojiblanca. In the U.S., Coratina and Picual are two primary varieties Cobram grows right now; others may be introduced in the future.

Sustainability Efforts & Initiatives

In their laboratory the company conducts research on how to grow more olives per tree and how to accumulate and extract more oil from olives while using less water and fertilizer and how to sequester more carbon per liter of olive oil produced than global average. The company also develops brands that make it possible to utilize every part of the olive tree, for example in making teas and extracts from olive leaves and using branches and olive pomace waste to renew soil with less use of fertilizers.

A few recent initiatives:

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Carbon Sequestering

Cobram has twice initiated self-assessment of its greenhouse gas emissions and, in partnership with the Carbon Farming Foundation in Australia has devised a reforestation project that will lead to increased plantings of native tree species at Boundary Bend, in Victoria. This is one of the world’s largest olive groves with an estimated 928,735 trees, according to Australian Olive Industry.

Preserving Habitats and Biodiversity

CBO assess where it’s possible to enhance growing conditions and natural habitats within olive groves and in the U.S. has been to introduce native habitats for bees within California olive groves. Natural predators have also been introduced to minimize the use of pesticides.

Water Conservation

In California, Cobram has developed reservoirs and aquifer recharge systems to gather and use rainfall for production. A low-volume irrigation system is in place, as are piezometers to measure underground water pressure, which also safeguards against pesticide leaching. Wetlands are also being developed at Boundary Bend, to keep salt water from entering the nearby Murray River.

Renewable Energy

A few achievements in this area include reprocessing olive pomace and other organic material back into the soil as fertilizer, implementing solar powered probes to determine the exact amount of water required for each tree, and upcycling, as Koefoed says, “as much as we can throughout the production process to limit wastefulness.” Olive pits are repurposed as a renewable energy source for heating boilers, not just for Cobram, but for other producers as well. A state-of-the-art harvester has also recently been employed, which picks and sorts fruit efficiently, so it is transported while in optimal condition.

Reaping Rewards

In 2023 Cobram was awarded as an Australian Financial Review Sustainability Leader for the second year in a row. Also in 2023 Cobram Estate USA partnered with and became accredited by Leading Harvest. Koefoed shares that in addition to accreditation, the international non-profit offers, audit procedures, and training and education to improve agricultural practices “to ensure we are doing the most to support healthy soil, food, and water for generations to come.”