Aristos signs on to push olea’s ‘old mate’

OLIVE oil producer Olea Australis has announced its new brand of extra virgin olive oil will be on the shelves around the country by February next year.

Executive chairman Gus Simpson said the Dandaragan Select brand was different from its ultra premium range of boutique oils.

The establishment of the brand will allow the company to move into supermarkets around the country.

 Mr Simpson said it was a progressive move, given that supermarkets accounted for 75 percent of all grocery sales and around 50 percent of olive oil purchases.

Olea Australis also plans to have its product in overseas supermarkets by the end of next year with the company hoping to access large volume markets in the northern hemisphere.

The company has also announced celebrity chef Aristos Papandroulakis, who is probably best known for his jingoistic phrases such as “it’s the grouse”, rhyming slang – “Harold Holt for salt” and love of his “old mate” olive oil will be the face of its marketing campaign.

Mr Simpson said Mr Papandroulakis’s involvement would involve in-store demonstrations and public appearances, as well as endorsing it through his national television show, Surprise Chef.

Olea Australis has established one of the largest olive groves in Western Australia with 215,000 trees.

It is one of seven large olive growers in the State’s Moore River region to the north of Perth.

The project is funded both by shareholders in the listed company and participants in a tax-effective investment scheme.

A second major grower Frankland River is also looking to widen sales of its products through supermarkets.