Thieves steal almost 600 litres of extra virgin olive oil from Grampians grove Mount Zero Olives

A Grampians olive oil producer is on the hunt for oil stolen from its Melbourne warehouse.

Mount Zero Olives staff arrived at work on Monday to find its warehouse had been burgled, with a new van, boxes of oil and computers gone.

The company was yet to brand the Renault traffic van, which alone was worth more than $30,000.

General manager Richard Seymour said almost 600 litres of oil was missing.

"It turned out that our warehouse had been burgled and they'd conveniently found the keys and loaded extra virgin olive oil, computers, iPads, and a little bit of cash into the van and driven away," he said.

Mount Zero's olive grove is among the oldest in western Victoria.

Mr Seymour's parents oversee the grove, while he manages operations out of Melbourne.

He said staff arrived on Monday morning to find the Tottenham warehouse open.

Mr Seymour said it appeared the thieves had stolen 36 boxes, each containing 15 litres of oil.

He said the stolen oil was worth about $6,000, with the electronics worth "a couple of thousand".

"I don't know whether it is a random grab - it is the most valuable thing we have," Mr Seymour said.

"The extra virgin olive oil was packed in 15-litre bag in box, which we generally send straight out to restaurants.

"Whether or not it's been reblended or someone's been found to have taken it, I don't know.

"We been on social media trying to put the word out and let people know that if they're offered a dubious supply of Mount Zero olive oil to get in touch with the police."

Anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

Source: ABC Rural   Brett Worthington   9th July 2015