Well… we really didn’t expect that.
We’re incredibly proud to share that Wattle Hill Olives has been named Outstanding Agricultural Business in North Tasmania at the 2026 Local Business Awards.
For a small family-run olive farm in Latrobe, this recognition means an enormous amount to us.
It’s not just an award for a business. It feels like recognition for the years of early mornings, long harvest days, unpredictable seasons, late nights, experimentation, setbacks, and the incredible community of people who have helped us along the way.
From a small idea to an award-winning olive farm
When we started Wattle Hill Olives, we never quite imagined where the journey would take us.
Today, our 21-acre property is home to more than 2,000 olive trees across multiple varieties. We grow, harvest and mill our own olives to produce Tasmanian Extra Virgin Olive Oil, as well as naturally cured table olives.
We’ve also expanded beyond the grove, welcoming visitors to experience the farm through our olive tastings, grove experiences, community harvest events and our Olive Leaf Retreat accommodation.
What started with a love of olives has grown into a business that connects agriculture, food, tourism, technology and community.
And that’s something we’re incredibly proud of.
Growing olives — but doing things a little differently
Agriculture is changing quickly, and we’ve always been interested in how technology can help us become better farmers.
Our grove incorporates a range of technology, including soil moisture monitoring, water-level and bore monitoring, weather data, satellite imagery and automation — all feeding into our own open-source farm management system.
We’ve even been experimenting with technology to help interpret the enormous amount of information coming from our farm.
For us, technology isn’t about replacing farming knowledge. It’s about giving us better information so we can make better decisions about our trees, water and soil.
We love that we can combine the traditions of an established Tasmanian olive grove with some very modern agricultural technology.
A business built around people
While the award has our business name on it, there’s no way we could have got here on our own.
Our community harvest days have become one of the highlights of our year, bringing people together to experience what it’s actually like to harvest olives.
Our annual community harvests, produce some pretty special olives — and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who comes along, gets their hands dirty and helped us bring the crop in.
We’re also incredibly fortunate to have customers who choose to buy local, guests who stay at the Olive Leaf Retreat, stockists who support our products, local businesses who work alongside us, and friends and family who have been there through the highs and lows.
Every bottle of olive oil and every jar of table olives represents a huge amount of work, but also a huge number of people who make what we do possible.
A pretty special year for Wattle Hill Olives
This award comes during a particularly exciting period for the business.
We’ve continued to receive recognition for our olive oils and table olives at competitions around Australia, including recent success at the Royal Adelaide Show and Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards.
Our table olives have also had a standout year, with our Medley table olives receiving Silver at the 2026 Royal Adelaide Olive Awards, along with Best in Class.
These awards are incredibly encouraging because they give us independent recognition of something we care deeply about: producing quality Tasmanian food from our own farm.
But awards aren't really what gets us out into the grove every morning.
The trees do that.
Why this award means so much
Winning Best Agricultural Business in North Tasmania feels particularly special because agriculture is such an important part of our region.
North West Tasmania is home to an incredible collection of farmers, producers and agricultural businesses. To be recognised among them is something we don't take lightly.
We're proud to be part of the agricultural community here in North West Tasmania and proud to be producing food right here in Latrobe.
For us, the award is also a reminder that small businesses don't have to be enormous to have an impact.
You can grow something on a small patch of land, build a business around it, experiment, innovate, welcome people through your gates and create something you're genuinely proud of.
Thank you
To everyone who has supported Wattle Hill Olives - thank you.
Thank you to our customers for choosing our olive oil and table olives.
Thank you to our guests for staying at the Olive Leaf Retreat and experiencing our little corner of Tasmania.
Thank you to everyone who has joined one of our harvest days, tours or tastings.
Thank you to our family, friends, suppliers, stockists and local community.
And thank you to everyone who has followed along with our journey, whether you've been here since the beginning or have only recently discovered us.
This award belongs to all of you as much as it belongs to us.
What comes next?
We’re not quite sure what the next chapter will bring, but we know there will be plenty more olives, plenty more experimenting, and almost certainly a few surprises along the way.
We'll keep growing, producing, learning and finding new ways to share what makes our little part of North West Tasmania so special.
For now, though, we're going to take a moment to appreciate this one.
Best Agricultural Business in North Tasmania.
From our olive grove in Latrobe, Tasmania - thank you. 🌿
Coen, Trish & Emily
Wattle Hill Olives