Mardouw Olive Estate celebrates South Africa’s highest ever EVOO world ranking points
In the presence of Dr Ivan Meyer, Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, Mardouw celebrated their 2024 highest points ever for a South African extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). Minister Meyer named Mardouw as a proud example of how SME companies drive growth and export for South Africa.
In his speech, Minister Meyer emphasized the importance of investment in growth, export and infrastructure and he named several concrete initiatives how he was planning to deliver on his ambitions. Minister Meyer: “The Western Cape Government’s Growth for Jobs strategy is a comprehensive plan that includes strategies for job creation, economic diversification, and infrastructure development.
By 2035, the Western Cape province aims to achieve an R1 trillion economy, triple its exports, and foster innovation by increasing research and development investment by 300%. Central to this strategy is attracting private-sector investment equal to 20% of regional GDP, or R200 billion, and boosting venture capital deals to R20 billion”, added theMinister.
Minister Meyer expressed his pride in Mardouw’s achievements and its significant contribution to the growing export of SA products. He explicitly thanked all staff, emphasizing that “success will, however, not be possible without the passion and commitment of staff”. He highlighted that successful businesses like Mardouw Olive Estate play a crucial role in advancing economic growth and job creation in the Western Cape Strategy.
The same sentiment was expressed by Ald. Schalk van Eeden, Executive Mayor of Langeberg Municipality. He added: “I like to emphasize the importance of the global recognition of Mardouw for the attractiveness of the Langeberg region.”
The 93-year-old André Verder, founder of the Olive Estate together with his wife Marijke, shared how it all started almost 25 years ago. Being 70 years old, he proved today that nobody is too old to live an ambitious dream. “You need to be open minded. We were the first to innovate with high density plantings in SA based on in-depth research of Carlo Costa from Stellenbosch University”.
The Dutch Consul-General, Hélène Rekkers, highlighted the importance of the strong economic relations between the Netherlands and South Africa and the long-lasting agricultural cooperation between the two nations. She said: “It is great to see a Dutch family producing olive oil in South Africa that can compete at a global scale. There is no better way to connect our nations”.
The CEO of Mardouw, Gerbrand Nijman, stated, “At Mardouw we have high standards of quality. This has been recognized around the world with platinum and gold awards in Italy, France, USA, UK, Israel, Argentina and Japan. We have been the proud winner of the most SA Olive awards the past three years and 8 consecutive ABSA Top10 awards. This all resulted in being ranked no.1 in South Africa year after year and now being no. 31 in the world by the official EVOO World Rankings. It is a testament to the dedication, collaboration, and passion of all involved.” Our ambition is to be in the top 20 within two years”.
Mardouw works together to produce a superior quality EVOO, proudly South African, making it available to all South African consumers through all major retailers and expanding into export markets.
Image credit: Freepik
