A MAJOR olive grove invested by Cobram Estate in California will buffer the company from new US tariffs.
Joint-CEO Leandro Ravetti said that while the purchase of 1340 hectares close to its existing Californian groves had not been made with a view to tariffs being introduced, the company was placed to continue local growing and production for the US market.
“Everything is produced and processed and sold in the US. That has been largely part of the success of our brand,” Mr Ravetti said this week.
“It’s the same in Australia - local is fresher and better and it’s the same path we are following the US with equal success.”
Mr Ravetti said some might see the introduction of US tariffs as a positive.
“The fundamentals in the olive oil business are pretty much the same, regardless of tariffs,” he said.
Mr Ravetti said the industry had know tariffs and European subsidies in the past. “We take these changes as they come,” he told the Loddon Herald.
Cobram Estate has the Southern Hemisphere’s largest processing plant at Boort, a $22 million investment that swung into production last harvest.
US packaged goods sales rose last year by 18.5 per cent to $23.9 million.
The company report said US sales of Cobram Estate branded products grew 103.4 per cent  over the period to a total of $19. million in in the six months to December.
“The Company is encouraged by the immense opportunity to replicate its Australian business model in the US in the medium to long term. The key focus is increasing the supply pipeline of Californian produced olive oil to drive packaged goods sales at retail,” Cobram Estate said.
The company’s mature US grove area is tipped to increase from 208 hectares to 1025 hectares over the next eight years. A new milling and storage facility has been completed and the new bottling line that will increase capacity from 3500 to 14,400 bottles an hour and is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2025.
Meanwhile, the Boort harvest is expected to begin shortly.
Cobram Estate said 2025 is an ‘on’ year for Australian groves  and expects the crop to be significantly higher than last year. The season is shaping up well despite challenging spring weather conditions, the company predicted earlier this year.
“Climatic conditions were favourable during the flowering period leading to normal levels of fruit set. Flowering commenced in late-October on CBO’s Australian groves, with the timing of full bloom at Boort and Boundary Bend occurring in line with long-term averages.