THE CONTEST

April 24^th marked the beginning, in the Big Apple, of the 5^th New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC), the industry’s biggest and most widely recognized contest. During four days, olive oil experts and enthusiasts from all around the world gathered to taste and analyze, in a blind assessment, over 910 oil samples from 27 countries.

For olive oil producers, receiving an award at such a competition represents a true consecration, in addition to providing incomparable international visibility. The winners are featured in the Best Olive Oils Yearly Index published online by the Olive Oil Times website, the definitive reference for all buyers, distributors and other major industry stakeholders.

In short, as many producers like to say, the awards granted at the NYIOOC are in a sense “the olive oil Grammys”!

THE JUDGES

This year, Favuzzi International inc. followed the competition more closely than usual, since the company’s president Michel Favuzzi, who is also an olive oil sommelier, was part of the panel of apprentice judges. “This unique experience allowed me to meet exceptional people and to learn even more about olive oil,” he commented after the event.

It is indeed a great honour to take part in the NYIOOC panel, as the judges invited to select the best olive oils “are not only the top tasters in the world with years of experience and impressive track records, they share a deep respect for this product and the people behind it which they demonstrate by their intense focus on every sample – an extreme level of concentration that I have witnessed 910 times over the past four days,” explained Curtis Cord, president and founder of the competition.

THE WINNERS

The award-winning oils are divided in many categories – gold, silver and bronze, but also organic and by olive variety – as well as in subcategories taking into consideration origin and the blend of varieties used. In brief, 463 oils received a prize this year, 149 more than in 2016.

Highlights

• This year, the competition’s fifth, we note that despite a difficult harvest season in many Mediterranean regions, participation rates are higher than ever.
• For the third year in a row, Italy has won the most awards. Indeed, 124 Italian olive oils were awarded prizes. Amongst these winning oils, the Planeta Nocellara, distributed by Favuzzi, earned a Gold Award.
• With 110 awards, Spain comes in second place, followed by the United States with 71. We also note that Greek producers improved their standing with 47 awards, almost twice as many as they earned in 2016.
• Several countries also feature amongst the other winners, such as Portugal, whose Cortes de Cima oil, also distributed by Favuzzi, received the Silver Award.
• Some of the award-winning oils come from Slovenia, South Africa, Croatia, Uruguay, Morocco, Brazil and China.

Faced with this remarkable international best-of list, we can’t fail to notice that the diversity of oil-producing countries is inspiring and ensures a wide range of products to satisfy all tastes.

Congratulations to all the winners. See you next year !

_{Note: Inspired by and adapted from the article “At 2017 NYIOOC: Signs of the ‘Sea Change We Have Been Waiting For’” published at www.oliveoiltimes.com.}