Gerrie Duvenage joined Morgenster in 1994, to help accomplish a life long dream of owner Mr Giulio Bertrand , " to make the best Olive Oil in South Africa:".

After studying Agricultural Research at Pretoria Technicon, he was responsible for various Olive research projects at Infruitec in Stellenbosch for 7 years . The Olive industry just started to pick-up and until now he helped numerous potential producers successfully to grow and produce olives and olive oil.

Although he gained valuable experience during his olive research, his most important knowledge comes from several trips to Italy, spending many hours with Professor Fontanazza, who is the Director of the most important Olive Research Institute in Italy.

Gerrie has fulfilled part of Mr Bertrand's dream by winning numerous awards for Morgenster with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, of which the most recent is the Southern Hemisphere New Season Extra Virgin Olive Oil of the Year. Morgenster has now been awarded a L'Orciolo D'oro Award nine times.