In 1960, Steve was born in North Adelaide and grew up in Hindmarsh.
Olives were gathered in the Greenock area by laying out hundreds of metres of hessian under wild olive trees, then hitting the olives down with long firm tree suckers, followed by collecting all the hessian up by rolling the olives onto one another, then cleaning the leaves out against the wind, bagging it and bringing it back home to be pressed a week later at the only processing plant in SA at Croydon by the Lazzario brothers.
Later the family moved to a farming property on the Adelaide Plains where they started growing their own trees.
Steve recalls as a 7-year-old working at the Processing Plant with its electric driven pullies, belts and conveyers. For a child it was hard going to work at a pace dictated by the processing, that involved placing the olive paste onto round mats, transferring them to a press trolley, cleaning them after processing into wheel barrows, and placing it as close as possible to the inferno of the steam engine where the waste was used to keep it fired.
He hated this labour-intensive work and as a youth vowed that when older never to get involved in it. However, despite getting qualified in accountancy and managing and owning stationery businesses, Steve remained in touch with the olive oil industry.
In the 1980’s he started to sell the product privately, and by 1990 had educated himself into the olive industry sufficient to go commercially and create his own “Barilla Olive Oil” business.
Technology was replacing the hard laborious work with machines and he upgraded at every opportunity. To overcome reliance on contractors, Steve purchased his own Olive Harvesting machine from Italy, and furthermore, now produces additional income doing contract work in the Riverland and on Kangaroo Island.
In her presentation, Gabriella spoke of growing up surrounded by 2500 trees. More recently she joined her dad Steve on his harvesting adventures.
Olive harvesting may look fun, but it can be dangerous, and she has X-rays to prove it. You always have to be aware of your surroundings and don’t put your arm in the trap door.
Highlights in learning the ropes of the family business include: learning to tie knots to secure the machine; knowing the different kinds of olives; how to prune and knowing the method of harvesting to processing of olives.
She finds it interesting meeting a range of people, and spending quality time with her dad.
Gabriella has also created some media accounts for Barilla Olive Oil, not just for marketing but also to educate the general public.
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Note: Olive oil produced using only physical (mechanical) means is termed ‘virgin oil’. That which is classified as ‘Extra virgin olive oil’ is processed to satisfy specific high chemical criteria with very little or no organoleptic (i.e. affecting human senses) defects.