Victoria’s Cape Schanck Olive Estate and Tasmania’s Flinders Island Olives have taken the coveted Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) in Show titles at the 2020 Australian International Olive Awards (AIOA), which this year saw twin “top gongs” awarded to Boutique and Commercial quantity producers respectively.

Also on the major award winner’s list was New South Wales producer Wymah Organic Olives, awarded Best Table Olive in Show for its Wymah Certified Organic Kalamata Olives, while South Australia’s Rio Vista Olives and New Zealand producer The Olive Press Limited tied for the title of Best Flavoured Olive Oil of Show. Spanish producer Goya En España again championed in both oil and table olive categories, taking the Best EVOO Northern Hemisphere and Best Table Olive Northern Hemisphere awards.

The winners were announced at last Friday’s Australian International Olive Awards Gala Virtual Presentation and results are available on the AIOA website here. The official 2020 AIOA Results Booklet will also be available for download shortly.

Congratulations to all medal and trophy winners. We’ll bring you comprehensive coverage of the competition results, and feature interviews with the major winners, in coming editions of the Olivegrower & Processor industry journal.

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Mypolonga is home to some of South Australia's finest olive oil, if the Premier's Food and Beverage Industry Awards are anything to go by. Rio Vista Olives is a finalist in the Business Excellence and Primary Producer categories in the 2020 awards, which celebrate the success of a wide range of emerging and established South Australian businesses.

THE $2.2 billion of taxpayers’ dollars that has been spent on modernisation and the Connections Project in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District has overseen a massive under-utilisation of the modernised metering fleet and dramatic loss in agricultural productivity particularly in the dairying industry.

Wagga Wagga in NSW's Riverina is officially home to some of the best olive oil in the country, with Wollundry Grove Olives winning a gold medal in this year's Australian International Olive Awards.

Got something to sell, or want to buy? Go direct to your target market – olive growers and producers – like Karen, who’s got Dorica bottles for sale, and Carlo, who’s selling 2020 bulk virgin olive oil

If you’ve got something industry-related to sell, you can reach your target market directly with Olivebiz Classifieds. Our online Classifieds service is an easy and inexpensive solution to advertising your unwanted equipment, extra oil - or even your grove. Karen has Dorica bottles for sale, and Carlo is selling 2020 bulk virgin olive oil, so they came to us to help spread the word. And if there’s something you’re looking for, it’s the ideal way to get the message out loud and clear to your peers and industry associates – the most likely to have what you need.

Olivebiz Classifieds cost just $40 for AOA members ($100 for non-members), including a text ad and link through to either your web page or images hosted on our site. And you don’t need to be a tech-head: just send us your info and we’ll post it up for you.

Olivebiz Classifieds are online now at www.olivebiz.com.au/classifieds. To arrange a listing, contact Gerri at editor@olivegrower.com.au.

The Victorian government will provide targeted funding to attract seasonal workers to the regions, to ensure farmers have the employees they need to get their produce to plate. Agriculture minister, Jaclyn Symes, says a $17 million package will help address seasonal workforce shortages, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Farmers and tourism operators have written to the Federal Government pleading for backpackers to be allowed into Australia to harvest crops, care for children and travel.

The state government is seeking feedback on its plans for a new Biosecurity Act covering plant and animal pests and how to prevent them or minimise their spread. Primary Industries & Regional Development Minister David Basham said the proposed new Act was designed to create new opportunities for the primary industries sector, reduce red tape, drive down costs and better align with national and interstate approaches.

The ABC and SBS will be forced to find an extra $1.2 million a year to keep broadcasting to regional Australians, after the company that has been maintaining the transmission towers said it could no longer afford to do so without government assistance.

Sourdough Business Pathways (SBP) is a business networking group based in Mullumbimby at the Byron Community College. Under the umbrella of SBP, Sourdough Business Women (SBW) was established around 3 years ago, created out of the need for a safe and strong environment for local business women to gather, connect and learn from each other. 

Networking events with a focussed guest speaker give women the opportunity to connect to potential mentors and other local, experienced business women and, with the growing success of the Byron chapter, expansion of the SBW network in surrounding shires such as Ballina, Lismore and Tweed is being explored.

If you are curious about being involved in driving a supportive and collaborative chapter in these regions, or simply wish to be kept in the loop for when events begin, please contact Amy Colli on 0429 804 890 or at amy.colli@sbp.org.au.

The International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) has announced new and extended flight capacity on numerous routes with multiple airlines, with services extended to February 2021 providing businesses with more surety and ability to forward plan. Qantas IFAM flights will also shift to volumetric pivot and loose pricing from 01 November in line with usual market practice, and are subject to change depending on market supply and demand. 

Any freight forwarder can now access IFAM supported flights at any time - there is no longer a 72 hour window. Contact your preferred freight forwarder to access available flights.  

For full details on the IFAM supported flights see the outbound and inbound schedules online.

To celebrate the remarkable resilience, ingenuity and courage shown across the exporting community and the international companies who invest here, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission has decided to pause the 2020 Australian Export & Investment Awards. Instead of recognising top performers, the Australian Government will this year be celebrating the stories of businesses that have defied convention, gone out on a limb, adapted, and met the challenges of 2020 in unexpected and interesting ways.

They want to hear about achievements big and small, with stories that will inspire exporters and investors alike, during these difficult times. Your remarkable efforts deserve to be recognised, so please share your story today. Learn more here - and be quick, the submission deadline is this Sunday, 25 October.

The fourth event in the Future Proof your Business webinar series is being presented by Local Land Services. Presented by Paul Ryan, Designing Resilient Futures - Discussing resilience design principles and implementing them will be held on Thursday, 29 October 2020 at 12:00 PM AEST.

The webinar will explore resilience concepts and equip participants with tools to help them think about and approach complex issues we all face in our communities.

Attendance is free – book here.

This year has been a major year of disruption for the Australian economy and society. Tragic bushfires earlier in the year and ongoing droughts, combined with the impact of COVID-19, have had severe implications for communities and their co-operatives. This Zoom forum focuses on the experiences of three co-operatives and their strategies for dealing with this turbulent year. 

Presenters include Allan Gordon, CEO of Hastings Co-operative; Kristy Newbury, Chair of the Board, Regional Director- New England, The Co-Operative Life (TLC) and June Tarlinton, Chair of the Board, Cobargo Co-operative Society.

The event is co-sponsored by the Co-op Federation and the Co-operatives Research Group at the University of Sydney Business School.

Details: 6 November, 1pm AEST – register here.

Developed and delivered by the Rural Women’s Network, this program of eight events aims to provide rural women with an opportunity to breathe and reset, as well as gain essential skills to help them continue to support their families and community.

The practical sessions, designed specifically for rural women, will explore topics such as What do I need right now? and How do I say no when everyone needs me? What to do when you become the one everyone turns to? and How do I listen to myself? How can I laugh again and how can I heal?

The series was launched on 15 October, the International Day of World Rural Women, and events are being hosted during October and November via Zoom. All sessions are free and run for 90 minutes.

The events are hosted/facilitated and presented by rural women subject matter experts and those with lived experience in disaster recovery. The primary focus is on providing ‘time out’ rather than overloading participants with new information and education.

Find out more and register here.

European Union agriculture ministers agreed on Wednesday to set aside part of the bloc's massive farming policy budget for programmes that protect the environment. The EU is nearing the end of a two-year struggle to overhaul its agriculture policy, to attempt to align it with the bloc's climate change commitments, while supporting farmers' livelihoods.

Olive oil consumption is associated with benefits for the prevention of peripheral arterial disease, while pomace oil could promote its development.

Italian olive oil production is set to drop by 26% this year compared to 2019, according to Confagricultura, a group that represents Italy's agriculture sector. However, Italy is not the only country to register a negative performance, with other olive oil producers such as Portugal (-35%) and Greece (-25%) also seeing production fall.

The Twitter-sphere is buzzing with enthusiasm following Tunisian producers’ success at the 2020 Australian International Olive Awards. They’re keen to get the word out, including acknowledgement of the Australian Olive Association as the event organiser, and posts and re-tweets have reached thousands. Great to see the hard work and dedication of the AIOA team, and the international judging panels who supported the 2020 competition, getting global cred!

Authorities have identified 136 newly-infected trees in Puglia. Among the new discoveries are two millenary olive trees in what was considered to be a buffer zone.

The olive trees have become drought-stricken, after a season in which the temperatures rose sharply, reaching “unprecedented” degrees in the southern countryside of Qunaitra.

The year is flying past, and Friday Olive Extracts (FOE) continues to bring all the latest industry news and events to your Inbox every week. THE place to share olive industry news, event details and reminders, our industry e-newsletter keeps growing in popularity and we now have nearly 4000 subscribers across the globe. If you’re not one of them, you can sign up here.

And please remember that FOE is YOUR e-newsletter, so we’re keen to receive your news and help spread the word. Just email your information to Editor Gerri Nelligan at editor@olivegrower.com.au - it’s free, and the best way to reach your fellow industry members!

Morocco is on pace to be the fifth largest producer of olive oil in the 2020/21 crop year, according to data published by Juan Vilar Strategic Consultants.

The European Union may impose up to $4 billion worth of tariffs on goods imported from the United States, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in its most recent ruling.

2020 National Agriculture Day – Australia

Soil CRC Participants Conference

Farm2Plate Exchange 2021 – Scenic Rim, Qld

Hort Connections 2021 – Brisbane, Qld

AOA National Olive Conference & Trade Exhibition – Devonport, TAS

To include your event, or update your existing event details, email FOE editor Gerri Nelligan at editor@olivegrower.com.au

Friday Olive Extracts Editorial editor@olivegrower.com.au

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