Making business better with Cobram Estate

"One of our biggest competitive advantages has been the possibility of developing a very efficient production model, in a fully vertically integrated way at scale," says Leandro.

By bringing production in house, along with packaging and marketing, Cobram Estate has "mesh(ed) all that together into a single fully vertical integrated company where we manage every step."

And while this scale has delivered considerable efficiencies, it has also helped drive demonstrable improvements in sustainability practices, the learnings of which the team at Cobram Estate are happy to share with others.

Market-leading farming practices which deliver lasting positive impacts on their local environment could have been the main sustainability focus for Cobram Estate. However, they knew that putting sustainability at the centre of their business strategy would also enable commercial returns which deliver increased shareholder value.

Taking a full 360-degree view of sustainability through the combined focus on people, planet and business, means that any risks, such as extreme climate events, are considered and managed at an organisational level. This rounded view also informs longer-term investment decisions. 

"Our beginning of the journey was mainly on the responsible and efficient use of the natural resources. It was about making sure that we make the most out of the water that we had, making the most out of every unit of fertiliser that we applied," says Leandro.

"Delivering the yields without the quality wasn't necessarily going to work, we had to do both. So we then had a strong focus on maximising the return on the resources that we had."

By taking a view of sustainability as a core driver of business success, Cobram Estate has been able to turn what could have been very costly waste by-products into viable, profitable product streams. Less than half a per cent of operational outputs from the olive groves and production end up in landfill – a phenomenal feat which saw them awarded as an AFR Sustainability Leader (in the Agriculture category) for three years in a row from 2022 to 2024.

Justin explains: "Having waste that's just sitting there, you know, it's in our interest to try to find some alternative for it. So there's just been a natural willingness to try, to innovate, to find alternative uses, invest in technologies that can make something of the challenges."

"If you've got a waste product, you're either having to pay to manage it or it becomes an environmental problem. So, the incentives have been there to find alternative solutions and we've been fortunate that there are a range of uses with all the by-products that we've been able to capitalise on."

"Those value-add opportunities are either through developing new commercial products and revenue streams or trying to maintain a circular economy within our farming system to return by-products into our groves."

Since its inception, Cobram Estate's leaders have been willing to work with outside advisors to achieve its vision.

Leandro was one of the very first external advisors brought on board: "I was working as a researcher in the olive industry in Argentina at that time. I got to meet Rob McGavin and Paul Riordon – we certainly agreed in a lot of our views about what a modern olive development and modern olive industry would require. And we continued the exchange of ideas until we thought it was an even better idea that I was going to join them here in Australia. And perhaps initially I thought it was going to be a two- or three-year working experience. And 25 years later, I'm still here with a company."

So what is it that Cobram Estate looks for when building and sustaining long-term relationships with key suppliers and advisors? For Leandro, "I think working with people that share your own values is hugely important… you know if you share the same values you tend to have that additional level of trust and confidence that naturally will also make things easier and easier and more efficient as well."