Wagga is officially home to some of the best olive oil in the country, with Wollundry Grove Olives winning a gold medal in this year's Australian International Olive Awards.
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The news was a long time coming for olive growers Bruce Spinks and Joo-Yee Lieu, who have been chasing the gold medal since they started at the grove 10 years ago.
Since then they have won a tantalising string of silver and high-silver medals, but now for the first time their extra-virgin robust olive oil has broken into golden territory.
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"We were speechless. We thought: 'is this real?', because we've been waiting for a long time," Mrs Lieu said.
"This is like a gift for our tenth anniversary."
On top of their golden medal they have also won two bronze medals, one for their mild olive oil and another for their regular table olives.
Mr Spinks said things were finally looking up for the grove, which has been soaking up recent rainfall after suffering years of harsh drought and low yields.
"We can take as much rain as can fall, we'll take it all," Mr Spinks said.
"We've struggled with getting enough fruit and growing enough fruit, and there hasn't been much processing in the area because there's not much around so contract work has gone down a lot."
Sales to restaurants had also dwindled during the COVID months, but on the positive side Mr Spinks said he had noticed a boom in NSW tourists and grey nomads who were travelling the countryside now that interstate travel was no longer an option.
The husband and wife duo will have little time to celebrate their award, and will be focussing their energies on ramping up their supply to keep up with the steady growth in demand.
"With this winter rain we've had it's been really good," Ms Lieu said.
"Most trees are starting to have buds, so we're expecting a bumper year for next year."
The husband and wife team will be lauded at the industry awards night this Friday, which will be held online this year.
Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
