Greek producers and exporters raised the bar again at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, winning 99 awards, a record high.
The tally of 45 Gold and 54 Silver Awards far outperforms the previous record of 70 awards set in 2020.
On Crete, the island that usually accounts for one-third of the country’s total olive oil production, local producers enjoyed a great season in terms of quality. The vast majority of the produced olive oil classified as extra virgin.
“This season on Crete, the producers and the local departments of agriculture were constantly on guard to prevent the fruit fly from taking a heavy toll on the yield of olive oil, as has happened in the previous harvesting season,” the regional department of agriculture in Chania told Olive Oil Times.
“The quality of the olive oil of Crete and Chania has been reputed in the olive oil world for many years,” the department continued. “The growers, producers and bottlers continuously strive to improve it even more. Their awards [at the NYIOOC] are proof that their efforts are paying off, and they also contribute to achieving recognition among consumers and in the international olive oil community.”
“It was one of the best harvesting seasons for the island,” Eytychios Androulakis from Pamako told Olive Oil Times. “If it repeats itself in the coming years, Crete could become the Tuscany of Greece.”
“We are extremely happy to receive a Gold Award for the fourth consecutive year for our organic monovarietal extra virgin,” Androulakis said.
They also earned a Silver Award for the Pamako Mountain, an organic blend from Koroneiki and Tsounati.
“We believe we have put the Tsounati variety on the map of gourmet cultivars for good,” he added. “We own more than 28 inventions of machinery equipment, and we always experiment in all the stages of the production process to make our organic, high-phenolic olive oil.”
“To maximize traceability, we only use olives harvested from our own 14,000 olive trees, which are then processed in our private mill and bottled in our private packaging facilities,” Androulakis continued. “This way, consumers know what they buy.”
The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition is the largest and most prestigious olive oil quality contest. Its annual list of award winners is the authoritative guide to the world’s best olive oils and the dedicated producers who craft them
Terra Creta was among the stand-out producers in the competition, receiving three Gold Awards for its Terra Creta, Terra Creta organic and Terra Creta Grand Cru extra virgin olive oils, all of which are made from the Koroneiki variety.
“It was not our first time at NYIOOC, however this edition of the competition was really different for Terra Creta,” Terra Creta's Emmanouil Karpadakis told Olive Oil Times.
“After winning first prize in Mario Solinas 2021, it is true that we had high hopes. So, we are more than satisfied to receive three Gold Awards at NYIOOC 2021, such a prestigious competition of the olive oil world.”
“Winning such a ‘difficult award’ is the best proof that we are moving in the correct direction as a producer and exporter of superior quality extra virgin olive oil,” he added.
“We wish more and more consumers will be able to appreciate and enjoy the ‘hidden character of Koroneiki’ as we use to say,” Karpadakis concluded.
*This article was originally featured on Olive Oil Times.
*More on GCT: Greece ranks first after winning 14 olive oil awards
