Cobram Estate has made the Australian Financial Review’s Sustainability Leaders 2023 list for the second consecutive year in the category of Agriculture & Environment, which recognises companies making sustainability progress while delivering business value.
Joint-CEO and chief oil maker Leandro Ravetti said the Cobram Estate team had been working for more than 25 years to ensure the business was as gentle on the planet as possible.
“We firmly believe that the food we eat and how we produce it will determine the health of people and the planet. Increasingly we are becoming aware that the dominant diets consumed globally are not nutritionally optimal, lead to large increases in diet-related diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, and are major contributors to climate change and environmental damage.
“Olives as a crop, when managed like ours, and extra virgin olive oil as a product, are perfectly positioned to play a critical role within the sustainable production of food and the adoption of sustainable and healthy diets,” said Ravetti.
Towards Zero Waste
At Cobram Estate one of the main ways sustainability is embraced is the ‘towards zero-waste’ approach.
“When you look at our operations, 0.5 per cent of our operations’ output ends up in landfill.
“Everything is used, recycled or upcycled. Branches pruned from the trees are mulched and returned to the soil as organic amendment. Leaves are used to produce our Stone & Grove olive leaf teas or Wellgrove olive leaf extracts. Even the olive pits are separated from the rest of the pulp left after pressing the extra virgin olive oil and used as a renewable energy source with the remaining flesh composted as fertilizer or used for stock feed,” said Ravetti.
The company has now been able to take this one step further, following a grant from Sustainability Victoria last year to support the development of a new waste handling system at its olive mill in Boundary Bend, which uses a combination of recycling technologies to de-water the olive pomace and extract valuable components from the waste.
The project will deliver an estimated 65 per cent reduction in the volume of the waste material it processes, together with lower greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of new commercial products.
Carbon Footprint
Interested in better understanding the carbon footprint associated with the production and delivery of its olive oil products to market, Cobram Estate completed two independent evaluations of its baseline carbon position across its entire Australian operations.
Both assessments revealed that carbon sinks identified on Cobram Estate groves both in the below and above ground biomass, entirely offset the emissions associated with growing and marketing the olive oil leading to a net removal of approximately 4kg of CO2 per litre of olive oil produced and sold.
Cobram Estate is also strongly focused on land system management and minimising biodiversity loss at its properties. More than 1,300 hectares of native vegetation has been fenced off on Cobram Estate land to provide habitat for local fauna and encourage wildlife onto the groves.
500 hectares have been set aside of land to plant with native woodland and mallee species, with the first phase of reforestation occurring in September 2022 with direct seeding of 150 hectares at their Boundary Bend grove. This reforestation project is estimated to sequester 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, and because of improved native vegetation, native wildlife including emus, cockatoos and kangaroos have moved into the groves. Cobram Estate has also partnered with the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group to provide much-needed funds and research to protect the threatened mound-building bird that is endangered in Victoria.
“As Australia’s largest olive producer, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in regional Victoria over the past 25 years and generate over 500 full and part time positions annually. We are committed to continue investing and advocating for sustainable olive farming as a true example of large-scale agriculture that can deliver positive impact in the pillars of health and sustainability.
“With many sectors of agriculture under the microscope for their impacts on the environment and society, we are proud to be leading the way and as a sustainability innovator,” says Leandro.
