olivespotlight

Owner and managing director of Telegraph Hill, Geoff Crawford, worked in Wellington in the early 2000s in the global sales department of a large company. The company relocated to Auckland and offered redundancy to anyone who didn’t want to go. This resulted in Crawford realising that this would be his opportunity if he were ever to run his own business.

aised loving olives, Crawford was often disappointed by the supermarket quality of olives available. He began researching options for import and distribution to retailers when he met a New Zealand-based olive grower looking for a business partner.

“Soon after, we set up Telegraph Hill. My business partner was in charge of growing and production, I was sales and marketing,” said Crawford.

Seven years later, Crawford bought out his business partner and took full ownership of the business, finally becoming a grower.

Telegraph Hill olives are naturally processed, where natural fermentation on the olives is conducted after harvest. This produces a beautiful-tasting olive after six to eight months of fermenting. This process can be sped up by using chemicals. However, Crawford added that this leads to different flavour development.

“As a vertically integrated business, we can control the inputs over fermentation and final packaging to deliver premium quality olives to market with the flavour profile we like to eat. Too many olives are super salty and super acidic. These are the signs of a mass market olive.”

Telegraph Hill operates an honesty belief system, where sharing growing knowledge benefits all growers helping this sector become more efficient and profitable.

As a new industry in New Zealand, sharing growing knowledge and learning is the best way to keep trees healthy and increase yields for all growers.

OlivesNZ, the category’s industry body, has completed a six yeargrowing project to increase fruit yield per tree. This has been achieved through grants from Sustainable Farming Funds and MPI. This has resulted in a best practice model with the IP held by OlivesNZ and shared with all its members. This is the model Telegraph Hill uses to grow its olives.

Crawford explained that Telegraph Hill has a contract with growers in Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa who follow this program, giving them consistent crops year after year.

As a small business, Crawford oversees everything, with hands-on growing work in the olive grove as necessary.

“Often days are split with some hours in the groves and office, where I fill an operational and marketing role.”

Crawford’s most memorable harvest was in 2020 during the country-wide lockdown, where Crawford caught covid on the last day of processing, so he was greatly relieved that it didn’t interfere with harvest.

“I’ve learned over the years that ‘olives are ready when they are ready’ delaying harvest has quality implications.”

As a grower based in Hawkes Bay, Crawford is deeply concerned with the environmental changes that have impacted the region, the severe rainfall and the disruption the area has faced because of extreme weather conditions.

“This year, we have had over the average annual rainfall in the first six months. This rots crops, stops access, slows ripening, and reduces yields.”

Telegraph Hill is sold through supermarkets and independent retailers all over New Zealand. Its distinctive red packaging can be seen in stores nationwide. Some olive oil is also exported, with drizzle products being trendy in Japan.

The constant development of new products to have an increased portfolio of premium quality products will inspire Telegraph Hill’s customers. Currently, the brand is working with its growers on increasing yields per tree so that Telegraph Hill gets a better olive and the grower gets a better return.

Crawford’s favourite olive is kalamata, and in his grove, he also has a favourite tree for the yield it produces and its general aesthetic appearance.