Welcome to Ruakokoputuna Olives

Most awarded Extra Virgin Olive Oil Producer in the heart of the Wairarapa, New Zealand.

Since the first release in 2004, Ruakokoputuna Extra Virgin Olive Oil has achieved 14 Gold Medals. In 2006, after just two years of production we were awarded 2 Gold Medals and Best in Class at the prestigious "Oils of the World" Competition held in Los Angeles.

News from Ruakokoputuna Olives 2009/2010

We had a fantastic harvest on the Grove this year. We are so lucky to have free-draining soil which dries out very quickly after heavy rain, and we know other growers in the area whose trees constantly have wet feet, which is not favourable at all to the fruit and development of flavours. So as a result, our trees once again produced an abundance of superb fruit. An Italian friend (also an olive grower) told us that we could expect 8-10kgs from our 7 year old trees but incredibly they produced an average of 15-20kgs per tree.

Harvesting lasted from mid-May and into the first week July. The olives were processed almost as soon as they were picked as we have our own Pegasso 500 Olive Press, that we imported from Italy in 2008, so that we could have total control of our olives and oil.

Once we had finished pressing, all the oil was stored in stainless steel vats for three months, during which time we escaped to our friend's olive grove in Tuscany for a rest! On our return at the end of September we started the blending of our latest oils. The various blends are revisited many times until we are absolutely 100% sure we have achieved the taste that our customers expect and will enjoy.

As I'm sure you know, Ruakokoputuna Extra Virgin Olive Oil is an oil of outstanding quality and is made to very high standards as our customers have come to expect. We have participated in, and won, a number of awards in the NZ Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards. However, there have been some problems with the awards recently, and is a shame that the industry, which is still in its infancy, and Olives NZ itself, have received so much 'bad-press'. Our customers tell us they do not have confidence in the credibility of the judging process in New Zealand any more. This is why we have decided not to enter our Extra Virgin Olive Oil into the NZ National Awards in 2009. We understand that there is a new line-up of judges for the competition this year but even so, we are focusing on the all-important feedback from our customers in making this important decision.

Our 2009 Ruakokoputuna Olive Oils will be available at the end of October 2009 which means all of our devoted customers will be able stock up with their favourite RUAKOKOPUTUNA Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Ruakokoputuna Extra Virgin Olive Oil - TASTE THE SUBLIME!