NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the
Advice on Publications Available.In our July 1995 issue of the Newsletter we gave brief details of Olives Australia, a company specialising in the nursery production of olive trees. From 1974 until 1986, Ray and Delphine Archer, the proprietors of Olives Australia were the proprietors of another business, Archer's Fruit Trees. Archer's Fruit Trees stocked the largest range of fruit and nut trees in Queensland, totaling two hundred and fourteen varieties.
In 1986, Ray and Delphine made a decision to sell their fruit and nut tree nursery business to concentrate on other interests. However, their love for food trees and the nursery business led them to consider remaining involved in some aspect of the horticultural industry. They decided to maintain some interest in one or a few crops only. But which ones? In this article they describe the decision-making process which led them to select olives and establish Olives Australia.
Ray and Delphine Archer,In seeking to decide what our new enterprise might be, our decision-making process followed along the following lines.
How many crops should we seek to cover ?
Although we had no desire to become millionaires, we saw the need to listen to the advice of successful business people. We remembered hearing a number of interviews with successful business people who frequently declared that their financial advisers had told them to diversify their interests into several different fields of business, in order to be successful. In most cases, the successful businessmen attributed their initial success to contravening the advice and specialising in only one thing.
We, therefore, made a conscious decision not to diversify, deciding not to become 'jacks of all trades and masters of none.' Without specialisation, it was too easy to deviate into all sorts of things that didn't warrant the input of energy and money. We decided that we would become specialists rather than generalists.
Many people enjoy dabbling in many different things and have a lot of fun doing so, but there's no fun in always having the bank manager on your back, always wanting to know when you're going to put some money in the bank to prove that you're a safe risk.
Did the product have a national and worldwide future?
The products we eventually selected were olives and olive oil which we saw as having a safe national and worldwide future. Our research identified the olive tree and its produce as being almost as old as time, as always having been an important commodity in many of the world's countries, and as fast becoming accepted in Australia, because of its health benefits.
Australian consumption has been increasing at around $A20 million per year over the last four years and promotion by health authorities, including the National Heart Foundation in Australia, has resulted in a worldwide shortage of olives and olive oil.
Can anybody grow the crop?
Our research found the olive tree to be very tough and generally forgiving of those 'purple-thumbed' folk who don't know too much about growing things. Olives are difficult to propagate, which would perhaps be a bonus for any company propagating them efficiently. Once olive tree cuttings have put on roots, they're very hardy and don't need as much TLC (tender loving care) as many other fruit trees.
Would the crop be profitable?
Our analyses suggested that Australians make money out of olives. The Mediterranean countries were losing their competitive edge due to reductions in export subsidies and rising production costs which were forcing up their prices. Also, unlike the Mediterranean regions, Australia has large tracts of low-priced land with reasonable quality water. Proper tree training from the start would assist with machine harvesting.
Would diseases, insects, birds and animals be a problem for this crop?
Close study of the literature suggested that these potential problems posed little threat.
Did the crop harvest time fit into a small or large harvest window?
Unlike other more labour intensive crops, the olive fruit can be harvested for different purposes over a period of about two months. It is nice to have the privilege of being able to work with an agricultural or horticultural crop that isn't so fussy that it has to be harvested on a certain day or week.
All the above considerations lead us to identifying olives as a promising potential crop for specialisation. We then investigated a number of features of the olive business. These included:
Was the olive a tough tree for the orchardist and would the product last?
Some olive trees in Mediterranean countries are still alive and fruiting after two thousand years. Consumers have been brainwashed into accepting the idea that Australians live in a 'throwaway' society. Well that may be so, but we believe that the consumer would prefer to buy a product which has longevity.
Would an olive tree business located at one site in Queensland be able to service the whole of Australia?.
We found that the propagation of olive trees was a business where we could reduce the headaches of controlling interstate agencies, with the associated office and storage space rental costs, by servicing growers located from the Atherton Tablelands through to Tasmania and Western Australia.
How could the trees be forwarded to the customer carefully and cheaper than a local supplier?
Fortunately, we found that there were many good specialist plant freight companies who are able to offer good service at a reasonable price.
Should we stock a large number of olive varieties or just a few?
This question needs to be addressed by any business. We decided that we wanted to be unique, supplying the largest range of olive varieties in Australia. Unfortunately, our particular commodity, the olive tree, cant simply be stored forever on a shelf, so we decided to produce large numbers of the main varieties while maintaining smaller numbers of the less popular varieties. By deciding to specialise in one crop, we needed to maintain a large range of varieties.
How important was service likely to be?
As with any business, we considered quality of service would be extremely important for survival in these difficult economic times. There is always a need to constantly improve production to reduce the customer's waiting time for delivery. Also, prompt replies to customers' queries and a desire to assist the customer in any way helps in maintaining good customer relationships. Prompt service is so important if a business is to move forward strongly.
Should the olive trees be sold at a high or low price?
In the past, we found that the higher the price charged, the more was needed for advertising, in order to obtain new customers. Our experience has been that in the long run, high turnover and lower profit put more orders in the books.
How important is quality?
In any business, it is important to provide good quality product. Poorly finished goods will reflect in lower sales due to customer dissatisfaction. If customers don't come back it is important to find out why before it's too late. To produce a better quality tree may take extra time, care and money, but in the end it's worth it every time.
The above check points helped us to choose the specialist nursery production of olive trees in preference to the production of the greater than two hundred different fruit and nut tree varieties that we had worked with in the past. We also believe that our religious convictions have been important in assisting us in our assessments. Although current society is humanistic and materialistic, we believe that our Christian approach to decision-making and to the motivation behind the business has contributed to our success. We hope that those who read this article will find a few pointers that will help them to be better equipped in choosing a business product to embark upon or simply to improve their present business situation.
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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