Boundary Bend Plants to Shape American Tastes in Olive Oil
By Lorrie Baumann
After its first year in operation in the United States, Boundary Bend is well on its way to achieving its objective of changing Americans’ ideas about olive oil and what it can do for them. “We’re absolutely trying to introduce Americans to the concept of fresh, more robust oils, which have the double advantage of more flavor and more health benefits,” said Boundary Bend Co-founder and Executive Chairman Rob McGavin.
Boundary Bend started its U.S. operations in Woodland, California, right around the beginning of last year and within months was winning awards at the New York International Olive Oil Competition with four Cobram Estate oils made in the U.S. – two silvers and two golds. Trees for future olive supplies were ordered last spring and will be planted this spring in western Yolo County, with more trees ordered for the upcoming year. The American operation is being headed by fifth-generation California farmer Adam Englehardt, McGavin credits Englehardt for much of the company’s success in integrating so quickly into California’s agricultural community. “He’s a great guy and is well-liked by the other farmers,” he said. “We’re very excited about the enthusiasm with which we’ve been received.”
“It’s a kind of fellowship of farmers,” McGavin continued. “As millers and marketers we can offer expertise and quality, but they’re also supporting us, as quality olive oil only comes from top-quality fruit.”
Boundary Bend is expecting to enter several oils from its 2015 harvest into competition for the 2016 NYIOOC awards and will be exhibiting with them at the Winter Fancy Food Show in New York. The company is depending on its experience in the Australian market to change what Americans look for in their olive oils. Most American olive oils are produced from the Arbequina variety of olives, which produce oil with a mild flavor and which are adaptable to being grown on trellises in California orchards where they’re planted in densities as high as 600 trees per acre. Boundary Bend prefers to plant its trees in lower densities – about 150 trees per acre – and to allow them to grow taller and bushier, so the Boundary Bend groves will look more like a walnut or almond orchard than like a typical California olive grove, which more nearly resembles a California vineyard. That opens up the possibilities for olive varieties beyond those currently under commercial production in California: 19 different varieties are being planted. Notably, Boundary Bend will be growing Picual olives, which make an oil with a very fruity flavor as well as Coratina, for a robust oil with a lot of pepperiness and bitterness on the tongue. “We’re also planting Hojiblanca and some other robust olives as well,” McGavin said. “We’re using our Australian experience to tell us what’s popular and what works and what has the wonderful antioxidants.”
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McGavin expects these varieties to produce oils that will tantalize American tastes as well as win awards in next year’s NYIOOC. “We’ve got some really nice oils,” he said, adding that he believes that Americans will appreciate them for the health benefits that nutrition research has identified with extra virgin olive oils as well as for their flavors. “The health benefits are in the minor components, which are what give the oils their aroma and flavor, and we expect that having a wider variety of flavors will be popular,” he said. “The oils with high levels of antioxidants also have materially better shelf life. They stand up better to cooking because the levels of antioxidants protect the oils.”
“Published studies show that no other food comes close to extra virgin olive oil for the prevention and treatment of chronic disease, said Mary Flynn, Senior Research Dietitian and Associate Professor of Medicine, Clinical at The Miriam Hospital and Brown University. “Consumption of extra virgin olive oil has been related to decreasing the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, lipid disorders, cancer, in general, and cancer of the breast, colon, GI, skin, prostate (and maybe more); osteoporosis; and Alzheimer’s disease (as well as other cognitive function issues).”
It’s not just the mono-unsaturated fat content in olive oils that are responsible for the health benefits; it’s something to do with the higher phenol content in some oils, she added. Laboratory analysis of Boundary Bend oils has demonstrated that the company is producing oils with consistently high phenol levels, she noted.
“We’re just as passionate about the health as about the flavor, but they go hand in hand,” McGavin said. “An oil that may win a show may be the healthiest oil. Healthiest food on Earth.”
