New Zealand’s largest producer, Grove Avocado Oil in Bay of Plenty, says the olive oil shortage can be handled by switching to avocado oil, which is in plentiful supply.
Grove bottles up to 600,000 litres of cold-pressed extra virgin oil in plentiful seasons and has bulk stores of oil kept under the right conditions.
“We like to believe that our extra virgin avocado oil is equivalent to olive oil, or in some ways better,” Grove general manager James Greenlees said.
It has a smoke point of 200degC and is ideal when cooking meat and seafood, for golden caramelisation.
The taste of avocado oil is smooth and palatable without the bitterness that some olive oils can develop.
Extra virgin means that ripe avocados are pressed without heat in the same machinery used by olive growers and oil producers.
Grove does not refine the oil, which strips out colour and flavour to obtain even higher smoke points and cooking temperatures.
It has room to expand production but is entirely dependent on the supply of Class 3 fruit from packhouses.
“We can handle more and more fruit but growers do not find it economic to pick just for processing,” Greenlees said.
For Grove, supply has to come through the packhouses to ensure spray diaries and NZ GAP compliance.
“We are NZ-owned and supporting local growers, without the larger carbon footprint of imported ocean freight, using imperfect fruit that would otherwise be considered waste product.”
