The Good Oil
Mediterranean-style building
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Quality in, quality out
The lack of precedent meant that intensive R&D was needed before a drop of oil could flow. Mr Nathan worked for more than a year with Alfa Laval of Italy, highly reputed for food-oil processing technology, to develop a process for producing cold-pressed extra-virgin avocado oil. Presses had to be adapted, and additional machinery devised for removing stones and skins.
Traditional cold-pressed oils are made to be used within weeks; the same components of the oils that make them good will soon turn them rancid. Quality and taste were of paramount importance - people will quickly be turned off by inferior oil. Mr Nathan's philosophy is that you must put in quality at the start, to ensure a high-quality end-product.
COP Outcome development and evaluation
Olivado sought to produce premium oil with a long life - longer than other avocado oils and indeed most olive oils. Funding from Technology New Zealand helped refine the technology, and under the TBG scheme they employed research assistance from HortResearch and Massey University's Food Science Department. The Massey connection was "crucial"; Olivado's own technical director, Laurence Eyres, was formerly head ofMassey's Food Science Department.
Olivado's engineers and the Massey University researchers developed a stabilising system and found ways to make the oil extraction process more efficient while retaining the natural flavour and colour of the oil. The process doubled the shelf-life of avocado oil to two years, and was acclaimed as a breakthrough in food oil technology.
Mr Nathan's faith in quality input has been repaid by the smooth operation of the plant since its installation, and by the extraordinarily high quality of the avocado oil produced. It surpasses the quality standards set for olive oil by the International Olive Oil Council by a wide margin. To be classified "extra-virgin", olive oil is required to have a free fatty acid content of less than 1 percent. Olivado avocado oil has less than 0.2 percent, and they believe they can improve it still further.
