Purchased by the Simunovich family in 1997, the family-owned Olive Estate rests on the sunlit slopes of the Bombay Hills, 50 kilometres south of Auckland City. Built from the ground up with the first olive tree planted in 1999, the estate started with sustainability in mind. The estate is not just carbon neutral, but carbon positive – annually producing 500 times more oxygen than it absorbs from the atmosphere for its own operations. Olive waste is used to fertilise estate produce and water is recycled and used to irrigate the property.

In 2002, the Estate produced their first pressed extra virgin olive oil. Since then, the Simunovich family have nurtured and perfected their extra virgin olive oil into the award-winning olive oil it is today. The Estate has become a staple in the Franklin community, sourcing the majority of their staff locally and providing training and development for more than 50 people.

The Simunovich Olive Estate consists of 104 hectares of land. This is comprised of 70 hectares on which olive trees are planted and a further 34 hectares made up of farm land.

The olive groves contain a myriad of olive varieties, most of which originate from the Mediterranean. These include Leccino and Frantoio from Tuscany, Carolea from Southern Italy, Picual, Kalamata and Koroneiki from Greece, in addition to New Zealand varieties that have been grown in New Zealand for more than 180 years.

The grove is meticulously cared for and every year trees are pruned back 30-40 percent, meaning that the tree is completely renewed every four years. This process lets sunlight into the centre of the tree, allowing olives to grow both on the inside as well as the outside, stimulating growth, good consistent fruiting and generally healthier, more virile trees.

Simunovich Olive Estate control the whole process; growing, pressing and bottling, ensuring customers are provided with the finest quality olive oil. Only the best fruit is harvested and subsequently cold pressed the same day. This allows all the natural health benefits to be captured while savouring the pristine flavour and signature aroma that can only come from the best extra virgin olive oil. Simunovich Olive Estate extra virgin olive oils contain no salt and are cholesterol free. Oils are bottled in dark glass in order to preserve the essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Olives at the Simunovich Estate are picked at just the right time for optimal colour and flavour and then processed on the Estate the very same day using top-of-the-range, Italian-made Pieralisi processing equipment.

There are many benefits to the Estate’s on site processing facility. The equipment is closed in order to prevent pulp and oils from being exposed to the air, thus ensuring they do not begin to oxidise before packaging. The process is continuous and therefore crushed olives are never left sitting in the factory waiting for emulsification. All oils from the Simunovich Estate are cold pressed to maintain all their original flavours and nutritional benefits.  Being processed entirely on site means the Estate have complete quality control from picking to packaging. 

Once separated, the oil is immediately polished to take out any impurities including small droplets of vegetable water or fine sediment before it is filtered. This is why Simunovich Olive Estate oil tastes so great, with no other olive oil in New Zealand being made this way.