What we're doing
Less than 0.5% of outputs from our operations end up in landfill.
We use, recycle or upcycle everything. Our olive pits are now used as a renewable energy source to heat our boilers and surplus stock is sold to other businesses for similar purposes. We utilise the olive leaves to make our Stone & Grove™ branded olive leaf tea and any pruned branches are mulched and returned to the soil as organic fertiliser. Our olive pomace waste is now used in the soil to reduce chemical fertiliser requirements.
Better than Carbon Neutral
Our Cobram Estate groves remove more carbon from the atmosphere than what is released to grow and market our high quality extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil is the only globally recognised oil crop that has a carbon sink affect.
Our groves protect biodiversity and provide shelter for native Australian wildlife
Unlike many of our competitors, our olives are grown on our own groves, right here in Australia. The perennial nature of the crop and being local enables us to have a unique focus on flora and fauna.
We are able to do the important job of protecting biodiversity and providing shelter for native wildlife that call our groves home. We've mapped and fenced over 1,300ha of native vegetation within our groves and we are planting another 1,000ha of native trees. This includes a wetland which is an incredible habitat for wildlife.
We promote the wellbeing of animals, birds and insects on our groves by avoiding usage of broad spectrum insecticides and breeding other insects that act as natural enemies to keep the balance of the system.
“From the millions of trees on our groves, every 40 olive trees offsets the carbon footprint of one person”
Ruth Sutherland
Head Horticulturist
Cobram Estate
Featured on Planet Shapers
We had a chat with Planet Shapers about our sustainability practices.
In partnership with the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group
To support our biodiversity efforts, in 2022 we partnered with the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group (VMRG) to protect the threatened Malleefowl species.
Sadly, the Malleefowl is currently considered a threatened species right across Australia due to loss of habitat. Due to their nesting proximity to our groves, our partnership helps to protect the threatened species and supports this small not-for-profit organisation.
Our sponsorship has provided their volunteers with first-aid kits for their monitoring in remote wilderness and will go towards establishing a live camera monitoring station.