olivespotlight HELEN MEEHAN OLIVO

Olivo is a small olive grove and oil business based in Martinborough. Helen Meehan manages the overall operations, crafting the infused oils, conducting in-store tastings, and carrying out the marketing and social media of the brand. John Meehan is the finance director, head of dispatch and the tasting room manager.

"We outsource some of our regular jobs such as spraying, pruning and pressing, bottling and labelling," said Helen.

Helen and John decided just over 20 years ago that they needed to do something different with their lives. John was a partner at PWC, and Helen worked as a senior executive for Telecom New Zealand in the IT space. Originally hailing from Manchester in the United Kingdom and having been in New Zealand for 20 years already at the time, John remained at PWC for another eight years as Helen worked to build up the business.

The pair were one of the first to make infused oil in New Zealand and have always been clear that they wanted to prove that Olive growing could be a fully commercial business, which has been the case since the business's second year.

The Meehan's aim is to create the best quality olive oil, with the business brand values being boutique, artisan, and gorgeous, which Helen said her accountant husband said for gorgeous read profitable.

New Zealand's small market in the global olive oil industry has made it difficult to produce in bulk. Therefore, Meehan's focus is on quality. Helen said that one of Olivo's points of difference from other olive growers and brands was its suggestion that good olive oils can be used across the food range.

"We supply some of the top restaurants in NZ and have had medals just about every year since our first harvest in 2003."

The Meehan's also focus on providing top quality, responsive service and personally know their regular customers, which Helen added was, of course, not unique. Still, it is something that she said takes time and effort.

Helen explained that four key things can affect olive oil. Firstly, the type of olive. Just like grapes, Frantoio oil (Tuscan) tastes different to Koroneiki oil (Greek) or Barnea oil (Israeli).

Secondly, the time of picking olives. At Olivo, they pick the olives when they are a third green, a third black, and a third just changing, which usually produces mediumintensity oil.

Thirdly, the terroir.

"Like grapes, New Zealand olive oil is green and grassy and herbaceous because we grow our olives in grass pasture, and the taste is reflected in the oil."

Finally, weather. Hotter summers generally produce a more potent oil, and wetter summers produce milder oils as the olive is full of water that must be pressed out. The 2023 season has been a particularly challenging one for this reason.

The day-to-day life of an olive grower is everchanging, with Helen stating that every day can be different. One day Helen met an Italian olive grower who visited Olivo, started organising which oils Olivo would be available for 2023, and sent out food safety certificates. On another day, she will taste new oils, decide how and if Olivo will blend, and consider new infusions.

Olivo's best harvest was in 2021 when the brand won two gold medals and silver on international stages and harvested a good yield with substantial oil. This last season has been the toughest, leading Helen to hope that the olives will be fine with hotter, dryer weather for the upcoming months, with enough rain, as too much is also not ideal.

The pandemic was some of the best years for the Olivo business as New Zealanders decided to travel their own country, leading them to places such as Martinborough, renowned as a wine village, and this led many to visit Olivo as well.

"People became more familiar with shopping online, particularly if they had visited us here." Olivo can be found in fine food stores across the country. Some of the brand's oils are exported to Singapore and found in one of the country's top fine food stores, Little Farms.

For the future, the Meehan's will continue to focus on absolute top quality. Olivo produces nine different infusions, which is enough when a producer wants the quality to come through.

"I am having fun playing around with our new lavender-infused olive oil, enabling me to market it with food."

Helen has a soft spot for Barnea Olive because it's what she learned on and off the infused range; she loves Olivo's porcini oil because it was her first infusion.

Adding valuable tips for those looking and wondering what olive oil can be used for other than a drizzle on salad, Helen said that the oils were perfect over soups, cooking fillet steaks and an excellent dairy-free, vegan and vegetarian ingredient.

"It is lovely in cakes because it keeps them moist and lasts longer. That is before we start on its health properties. Extra virgin olive oil is one of the bases of the Mediterranean Diet, often touted as one of the best diets in the world."