Earlier this year, we were absolutely thrilled (and stunned) to receive an incredible letter in the mail.
The letter contained the original prospectus (from 1950) promoting investment in the Mount Zero Olive grove (then called Mount Olive Verdalian Plantations Limited). The prospectus sheds light on an amazing chapter in the history of olives at Mount Zero and Australia.
In the 1950s, for the first time in Australia, the humble Olive was recognised for having a prosperous future.
This prospectus shows the early vision behind the Australian olive industry that truly began in 1844 and was consolidated in 1946 at Mount Zero. Reading this in 2019, we can only wonder if they knew with confidence at the time, just how accurate their predictions would be.
These are the words of the pioneers of our industry, we hope they thrill you as much as they do us!
One of the Australian godfathers of the Olive was Sir Samuel Davenport, who in constant search of new agricultural industries in Australia, was perhaps the countries first olive promoter.
So despite Sir Samuel Davenport's attempts for over thirty years, the Australian community were not ready to embrace the olive.
Another olive pioneer and MZ legend was Jacob Friedman, who planted the grove at Mount Zero.
From this text it is clear that thanks to Davenport, Friedman and our Greek and Italian ancestors, the olive finally took off...
Well, as they say, the rest, is history!
