Andrew Burgess: General Manager
Andrew has over 20 years' experience in agriculture and agribusiness. Involved in the Australian olive industry since its rebirth, his tertiary qualifications include an Associate Diploma in Farm Management from Glenormiston Agricultural College and a Graduate Diploma in agribusiness from Monash University .
Andrew regularly visits Italy , Spain , California and Argentina to keep abreast with the best in both traditional and modern olive industries. He has developed expansive networks and in-depth knowledge of varieties, olive oil tasting and the latest production and processing techniques.
Andrew is the Secretary of the Victorian Olive Council and serves on the Victorian Olive Research Committee, which helped develop the national research and development plan for the Australian olive industry. He also serves on the executive committee of Geelong and district olive association and participates in grower training and field days. He's the author of many technical articles for professional journals.
Prior to joining Modern Olives, Andrew worked for a large olive nursery as researcher and technical adviser. This gave him specialised experience in varieties, grove establishment and management.
Andrew is the General Manager and part owner of Modern Olives and is committed to seeing the olive industry establish itself as one of Australia 's major horticultural industries.
Leandro Ravetti: Senior Horticulturist & Olive Specialist
Prior to settling in Australia Leandro worked with many of the largest olive developments in Argentina where he was acknowledged as one of the country's most experienced advisers and researchers. Specialising in modern production techniques, he has an international reputation. His research has been published in Olivae (the IOOC's official journal) and has presented papers at the World Olive Symposiums in Italy and Turkey. He played a leading role in organising Arauco 2000, Argentina 's premier symposium.
Graduating with Honours from the National University of Catamarca, Leandro holds a diploma as an agricultural engineer. He worked as technical adviser for the office of Olive Production and Development, his responsibilities including co-ordination and technological advice to two private research groups with plantings of 11,000 hectares.
For five years he worked for Argentina 's National Institute of Technology on grove design, grove management and variety evaluation. He specialised in researching optimal harvesting periods and procedures that maximised oil quality.
He's also worked in the olive regions of the Mediterranean , including a term with the Olive Growing Research Institute of Perugia in Italy . He completed a postgraduate olive growing course in Spain .
With extensive experience in mechanical harvesting and pruning on a large scale, Leandro has provided assistance to many of the largest developments in Australia . During the last three years Leandro has presented papers at the annual National Olive Conference's and many field days and regional associations meetings. Widely regarded as the most qualified and experienced adviser in this country, he is a valuable resource to our fledgling industry
Craig Shalders: Production Manager & Technical Advisor
The prime responsibility of Modern Olives is to produce the highest quality trees to ensure the early success of our clients' groves. Craig's breadth of knowledge and production experience ensures premium quality trees.
With over 10 year's hands-on experience in agriculture/horticulture/crop production/research and management, Craig's formal qualifications include a Bachelor of Applied Science, Horticulture from Melbourne University and a Certificate in Horticultural Production from Holland.
He has managed his own business, consulting on pest disease and weed control, and supervised various broad acre and containerised crops. He's been employed as an agricultural research scientist, horticultural consultant and production manager, undertaking both private and government-funded research on behalf of clients, grower organizations, chemical companies and industry bodies. He is skilled in soil testing, pest, weed and disease control, with 'cutting edge' knowledge of overseas techniques and their applicability to local conditions.
Craig has travelled to Argentina where he researched varieties, cultural practices and grove management and looked at the implementation of mechanisation into groves.
Like all our key people, he is always available to give objective advice to you, the customer.
Norma Abela: Administration
Norma is the first point of contact at Modern Olives. She has worked in all areas of the nursery and fully understands the workings of our business. Norma's role is to make your dealings with our company enjoyable, meaningful and efficient. Norma will also be the one organising the delivery of your trees in a timely and efficient way. This means you get your trees quickly and safely without having to worry about dealing with freight companies and plant quarantine areas.
Norma has spent many years in office administration and we value her professional and committed approach to our business.
Nursery Team
Our company is lucky enough to have a loyal and committed group of people who work in our nursery. From propagating the cuttings to putting the trees on the pallets our trained and experienced staff are committed to making sure our customers get quality trees.
