From Western Queensland to the World Stage - with Rob McGavin

Cobram Estate’s co-founder Rob McGavin’s philosophy is simple: “Just don’t go broke.”

On July 23, Cobram Estate co-founder Rob McGavin addressed the Rural Press Club luncheon in Brisbane, discussing his childhood, venture into olive oil and business philosophies. Cobram Estate is Australia’s largest olive oil producer, producing 80% of Australia’s olive oil, which is sold through Cobram Estate, Red Island and Stone & Grove. Cobram operates groves in California and exports to 17 countries globally. Mr McGavin generously provided a bottle of Cobram Estate olive oil as a gift to all who were in attendance.

Mr McGavin said he believes all people are a product of their upbringing and credits his childhood in Barcaldine and his father’s belief that real-world learning comes from doing, rather than seeing, in influencing his outlook on running a business.

“Dad would always say, ‘You’ll learn more here than you will in school’,” he said. “If you’re not smart—which I wasn’t—you have to work hard for everything you get.”

Mr McGavin said he sees the most valuable education for rural young people to be in travelling up north to work on properties, which he did, and in attending Marcus Oldham, which both his sons attend.

“Anyone who has the opportunity to work up on a station—particularly these days, up north—should. It's grounding and for any kid I would recommend it. It’s something that just teaches young people to think.

“Anyone who grew up on the land knows there’s a real advantage in going up north and is certainly really lucky and can appreciate that they’re lucky for that opportunity.

“I’m now Chair of the Marcus Oldham College Council, and I think it’s something rural Australia is really lucky to have.”

After attending Marcus Oldham College himself, Mr McGavin mortgaged his father’s property to buy a vineyard in South Australia with his brother, and during that time began Cobram Estate with Paul Riordan, a friend he attended Marcus Oldham with. To begin their endeavour, they needed to raise $15 million, for which they turned to friends and family as shareholders.

“To this day, most of the existing shareholders are the friends and family that came on in 1999, 2000 and 2001,” he said. “We raised $15 million and planted 500 hectares and have had a lot of trial and error through that journey.”

Cobram Estate produces around 70% of Australia's total olive oil output.

“To this day we have around 20% of Australia's planted area and produce a lot of olive oil,” he said. “We use 37% less water, 63% less nitrogen and 87% less phosphorus.

“What you may not know is that the benefit of extra virgin olive oil comes from the antioxidants, which is basically how fresh the fruit is when it's crushed, and it's one of the most beneficial products on earth.”

Mr McGavin is proud of the quality of olive oil Cobram Estate produces and said that they focus on ensuring that the health benefits associated with the olives’ antioxidants remain.

“Something like half of the world's production is not fit for human consumption unless they refine it with chemicals, which takes out the antioxidants and creates by-products that are not good for your health. That’s probably where our advantage is—we know our olive oil is as good as it gets.”

Mr McGavin’s leadership philosophy is short and sweet.

“Just don’t go broke,” he said. “If you can’t make your mind up [about a business decision], don’t do it - you’ll know when it's right.”

Mr McGavin said his experience as co-founder and CEO has taught him the importance of a strong leadership team in developing the culture in a workplace and believes the trickle-down of desirable behaviour begins with strong leadership.

“Good leaders have empathy, integrity, honesty and they fix the culture at the top,” he said.

Mr McGavin ended his speech by stating that he is worried about Australia’s future in regard to red tape.

“I’m really worried about where Australia is headed and worried about putting more investment in here,” he said.

Mr McGavin said the US market better suits his olive oil business due to the lack of red tape involved in processing.

“There is so much regulation creeping in, so much reporting and compliance,” he said. “Individually when you say ‘Oh, we’ve got to get rid of that’, that's not too bad, but all together there is an overwhelming amount of non-productiveness.”

Despite the benefits of the US market, Mr McGavin said he is hopeful for the Australian market's future, but that strength is needed.

“Australia can't rely on the fact that we’ve always been prosperous,” he said. “We need strong businesses that have strong industry and strong innovations.”

Thank you to our event sponsors, Australian Retirement Trust, Colliers Agribusiness AUS, McCullough Robertson.

Contact: Rural Press Club of Queensland reporter Milly Buck millster04@icloud.com

Milly Buck was awarded the 2026 Rural Press Club of Queensland scholarship to support her through her final year of studying Business and Communications at the Queensland University of Technology.  As the Club’s inhouse reporter, Milly attends RPC events to report on news and speeches delivered this year. In July 2026 she was employed by the Queensland Country Life.