Boundary Bend/Cobram Estate
Boundary Bend Olives was founded in 1998 in Australia by two friends, Rob and Paul, who had a passion for agriculture and a drive to try new crops in Australia. After planting their first groves in the town of Boundary Bend, they have since become the largest olive oil producers in Australia, and Cobram Estate, their brand, has become the most award winning brand of olive oil in the world. The Boundary Bend team, which includes Cobram Estate and Modern Olives Laboratory, have led the push for label regulation and standardization of Australian extra virgin olive oil and imported oils. After hearing about the blossoming California olive oil industry, they decided to branch out of their Australian roots and take the plunge into California in 2014.
They saw the emphasis that California producers placed on quality and transparency and wanted to bring their fully vertically integrated model of farming and producing over to the USA.
Boundary Bend decided that the best place for their mill and main headquarters was in the beautiful and historic town of Woodland. All their groves that are scattered through Yolo county and some neighboring counties would have a centralized mill that was right off Interstate 5 to ensure the shortest transit times possible. These shorter transit times are then coupled with pioneering quality control measures and milling technology, ensuring that Boundary Bend makes the highest quality of extra virgin olive oil possible.
Boundary Bend is also unique in that they have a full-scale laboratory on premises, Modern Olives. This 3rdparty accredited laboratory functions as an independent business and performs tests for other local growers, producers, and retailers that are looking for a more local olive oil testing solution.
Having Modern Olives on premises allows Boundary Bend to be constantly performing testing and quality assurance not only during harvest, but also throughout the year. As an example, Boundary Bend was one of the first olive oil companies to add an accurate Best Buy Date that is tailored to each batch of olive oil to all of their bottles to ensure the customer is getting the freshest oil possible.
Boundary Bend and Cobram Estate support the COOC’s mission of encouraging all to enjoy the benefits of high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Their staff are frequent contributors to the COOC annual member meeting and currently hold a position on the COOC Board of Directors. Boundary Bend truly believes that California produces some of the most awarded oils in the world, and that the California name and brand should be protected. Boundary Bend is proud to exist in both hemispheres and celebrate our oils both from Australia and California, but they believe that an oil should be celebrated for its single origin. They cannot wait to see where the industry will be in 5 years and hope to continue growing alongside the COOC and their fellow Californian olive farmers.