Coming from a long line of farmers, it’s little surprise that Steve and Raquel Goodchild ended up managing an olive grove in the Hunter Valley. As the driving force behind Pukara Estate, they’ve been living and breathing olive oil for the last twenty-five years, growing the business into one of the region’s most popular brands.
It was while consulting across Australia, helping farmers with their olive plantings and hosting olive oil research tours through California, Argentina, Spain and Italy, that Steve met Pukara Estate founder Bruce Eglington who offered him a partnership and management role setting up Pukara’s olive grove.
Soon after this serendipitous meeting, the newly married couple moved to the Hunter Valley and as they say, the rest is history!
From helping establish Pukara Estate’s first commercial harvest to the arrival of two daughters and Bruce’s eventual retirement, they now manage Pukara Estate’s operations around Australia while overseeing the 20,000 olive tree varieties planted at their 300-acre property near Denman in the Upper Hunter Valley.
“All of our olive trees have been hand planted over the years using imported olive tree varieties from Italy, Spain and Greece because there are no native olive trees in Australia,” Raquel explains.
“Once the olives are picked, they are crushed within hours of being harvested because it helps retain all their beneficial organic compounds like antioxidants and good (monounsaturated) fats. This means that our Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made using fresh juice straight from the olive without any chemicals or excessive heat, creating a fresh and flavoursome olive oil,” she said.
“Once the olives are picked, they are crushed within hours of being harvested because it helps retain all their beneficial organic compounds like antioxidants and good fats.”
Originally selling their olive oil at Farmers and Growers markets, they soon realised there was a need to educate consumers on the different ways olive oil can be used which led to the creation of their flavoured olive oil range – made by blending their Extra Virgin Olive Oil with natural extracts such as chilli, garlic, basil and lime. This was the first step in the evolution of Pukara Estate’s product range.
“We noticed that most people didn’t really understand the different ways you can use olive oil. We wanted to showcase the versatility of our oil by creating a range of flavoured oils that were easy for people to use in cooking,” Raquel said.
“Take for example our Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil which you can quickly drizzle over roast vegetables for a rich garlicky flavour or our Truffle Extra Virgin Olive Oil which adds a deliciously rich, earthy taste when used in risotto or pasta dishes.”
“We noticed that most people didn’t really understand the different ways you can use olive oil. We wanted to showcase the versatility of our oil by creating a range of flavoured oils that were easy for people to use in cooking.”
Over time, they saw more opportunities to expand their offering with products that complemented their Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Together with a local winemaker, Steve started making and maturing vinegars at night using Australian wine and grape juice, eventually becoming one of the first in Australia to produce locally made vinegar. Continuing to diversify their product range, they’ve since added gourmet food items that pair well with olive oil and vinegar such as condiments, salt, tapenade, jams and preserves, that are all grown and produced in Australia.
However, it’s not only food products that Pukara Estate is known for. As their daughters grew up and became more independent, Raquel was able to turn her attention to realising a life-long dream with the launch of Earth & Grace, an all-natural skincare range that combines the benefits of Pukara Estate’s olive oil with a range of natural extracts such as aloe vera, honey, shea butter and kakadu plum.
“I’ve always been passionate about natural skincare and wanted to create my own skincare range using our olive oil because of its amazing benefits. We had always stocked an olive oil skincare brand, so it made sense for us to create our own,” she said.
“I’ve always been passionate about natural skincare and wanted to create my own skincare range using our olive oil because of its amazing benefits.”
In honour of their daughters’ hands-on involvement over the years, the skincare range is named after them – Georgia meaning ‘worker of the earth’ and Annabelle meaning ‘love and grace’.
“The girls grew up with the business and regularly helped out on the farm, playing in the groves and pitching in when it was all hands-on deck during harvest, so we wanted to acknowledge their involvement by naming the skincare brand after them,” Raquel said.
Featuring natural products such as lip balm, body wash, hand cream, body lotion and body butter, Earth & Grace skincare is currently available through the Pukara Estate website and retail stores.
“It’s unique having a skincare range that uses our premium olive oil, especially given the incredible benefits, both inside and out, that olive oil offers. It not only contains antioxidants such as squalene and vitamin E that helps repair damaged skin while retaining skin radiance, but it also has anti-ageing effects that helps restore skin smoothness and protects the skin from ultraviolet light,” Raquel explained.
With demand for their products growing over the years, Pukara Estate products can now be found on the shelves of Harris Farm Markets Australia-wide and Woolworths Metro stores as well as in Pukara Estate retail stores in Muswellbrook, Pokolbin and their new store in Newcastle CBD.
Ideally located at the east end of Hunter Street, the Newcastle store features the full breadth of Pukara’s products with olive oils, vinegars, condiments including mayonnaise, pesto, relishes, tapenade, jams, dukkah and salt as well as Earth & Grace skincare, lining the shelves.
“Although we’ve been around for over two decades, most people still don’t realise the full extent of our product range. That’s the beauty of having a store in Newcastle now – we can show off our full product offering, chat to customers about the different ways to use them while giving them the opportunity to taste test all the flavours,” Raquel said.
“We’re continually evolving and looking for new ways of connecting with our customers and club members and in celebration of twenty-five years in business, we’ve got some exciting things planned this year,” Raquel said.
“We want to host more in-store events like cooking classes that give our customers more of a hands-on experience using our products as well as engaging more with our Connoisseur Club members by creating unique experiences and offers just for them.”
“I still pinch myself when I think about how far we’ve come from that very first harvest all those years ago and all the things that we’ve achieved along the way. Twenty-five years in and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Words: Christina Atherton | Photography: David Griffen and supplied by Pukara Estate
As seen in Swell Issue 20. Grab your copy here
