Cobram Estate Olives to double grove area in USA

Australia’s leading olive oil producer is set to double its area of olive grove plantations in the United States, as it continues to grow its business across the Pacific.

Australia’s leading olive oil producer is set to double its olive grove plantations in the United States, as it continues to grow its business across the Pacific.

Cobram Estate Olives Limited announced on Friday it was in the process of purchasing 1534ha of land close to its already existing 916ha of Californian olive groves.

The new purchase will support 970ha of new plantings, and a 95ha mature olive grove.

Chair Rob McGavin said last month Cobram had “the most incredible opportunity in the USA”, with its olive oil market eight times larger than Australias.

“Only 3-4 per cent of USA olive oil consumption is from USA produced olive oil – the balance is imported. Compare this to Australia where consumption of locally grown olive oil is now almost 50 per cent of total consumption – given time, there is no reason this cannot also happen in the USA,” Mr McGavin said.

“Remarkably, almost everything that works for us in Australia, works for us in the USA.”

CBO’s completed 2024 Californian harvest led to the production of three million litres of olive oil, with production in 2024’s ‘off year’ 77.1 per cent higher than that of 2022, and only 6.4 per cent lower than 2023’s ‘on year’.

This large increase was mostly due to larger supply from 3rd party olive growers, with production from CBO’s own groves representing 22 per cent of the total US oil produced this year, up from 11 per cent in 2023.

Cobram first entered into the US market in 2014 with the purchase of a 3.64ha property in Woodland, California, before planting its first grove in 2015.