The Village Press

The Village Press was established in 1994 by Wayne and Maureen Startup and is these days one of NZ largest olive oil producers. They began with a property near Havelock North, which had a handful of olive trees on it. Over the last 20 years they have expanded and are now running their own harvesting, pressing, bottling and storage facilities.

They produce extra-virgin olive oils, infused olive oils and more recently avocado oils. They export to over 12 countries and are the third most sold olive oil brand in NZ supermarkets.

The couple believes one of the drivers of success is their vertically integrated business model. Wayne and Maureen oversee the entire production process, from fruit to the bottle. 

The Village Press has olive groves totaling around 17,000 trees, covering 30ha, which it oversees and manages. The company looks after soil management, tree pruning and canopy management, along with irrigating and harvesting.

Wayne says around 6-7kg of fruit goes into making 1 litre of olive oil. Depending on the season each tree should produce 25-30 kg of fruit.

He said the company had worked hard in recent years on trying to improve the quality of fruit from suppliers. “We’ve put a lot of effort into our supply chain. There has been some variability because of the origin of the fruit, as much as possible we are introducing the biological approach to our growers and we are seeing more robust fruit quality.”

Growers were being persuaded to prune trees to improve yields, and to carry out better soil management.

The company originally set up a pressing facility in behind Sileni Estates but moved to larger premises in Kirkwood Drive in Flaxmere in early 2015. The business provides contract pressing, extraction and bottling for other groves from Northland to Marlborough.

Once the olives have been washed and crushed to a paste they are gently tumbled and slightly warmed in stainless steel malexing units.

The paste then goes through a centrifugal decanting unit where the olive oil is spun out.

The oil is stored in stainless steel vats topped with inert gas to prevent oxidation. The company also has an automated bottling and labelling line.

Avocados are primarily grown in NZ for fresh fruit export – currently they’re our third largest export fruit category.

Any fruit not suitable for export is sold on the local market or to processors for oil and other processed avocado products. Approximately 3% of the NZ avocado crop is processed for oil. Windfall fruit not suitable for the local market is sometimes bought by oil processors.

The oil was originally extracted for cosmetic use. Traditionally the flesh was dried and then extracted with solvents.

In 2000 two companies in New Zealand started pressing extra virgin avocado oil for use in salads and for cooking. In the 2008/09 season New Zealand produced around 150,000 litres of extra virgin avocado oil.

Once harvested, the avocado will begin to ripen. This process involves the softening of the flesh and for some varieties like Haas, the colouring of the skin from green to purple-black. The degree of ripeness of the avocado is primarily determined by measuring the firmness of the fruit. Hence to ensure the oil content in the avocados is at the maximum for processing, the fruit should be mature at harvest.

Ripening leads to tissue softening, which aids with the extraction of the oil. Ripening can be promoted by treating the fruit with ethylene.

To have optimal oil quality, avocado fruit should not be overripe and also should have minimal rot or other postharvest disorders. The amount of oil extracted from mature and ripe avocados earlier in the season has been found to be approximately 75% of the maximum available oil in the flesh (15% oil by fresh weight) compared to later in the season when it is possible to extract more than 90% of the available oil.

The flesh of an avocado can contain up to 30% oil but there’s little in the seed or the skins. Processing includes removing the skin and stone. After this, the flesh is ground to a paste like olives and then malaxed (softened) under heat.   The temperature is slightly higher than that used for olives. It aids the extraction of the oil and does not affect the quality. The oil is still considered to be “cold-pressed”. The oil is high in monounsaturated fatty acids and has a high smoke point. The high colour of the Hass oil in particular is attributed to chlorophylls and carotenoids.   It is also high in antioxidants.

The avocado is a biennial bearing fruit which no doubt has an impact on the availability of avocados for oil processing. The industry is running research to try to solve that problem.

In April 2014 the Avocado Industry Council announced it was entering a partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries in a new Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme called Go Global. There are a range of research projects being funded under the PGP to try address the irregular bearing of the trees.

The avocado harvest season runs from October to March which fits with the olive season which starts in in April and is usually over by the end of July.   Processing both types of oil keeps The Village Press’ machinery operating pretty much all year round. Wayne says that this means he can hang on to key staff and offer them employment right through the year.

Olives need to be pressed as soon as they come off the tree but avocados don’t – they need time to ripen. The avocado oil has a higher “smoke point” than olive oil so it is ideal for searing meat and frying in a wok as well as for use on salads.