New York Success for Local Olive Producers

Cape Schanck Olive Estate’s Sui and Stephen Tham said they were “thrilled with our good fortune”: we think Best of Class and three Golds proves it’s more about quality EVOO production.

Awarded Best of Class, Gold and Silver in New York, Alto’s Westerly Isbaih and Robert Armstrong have plenty to smile about. Photo: Rob Locke, FoodWineDine.

More New York success for local producers

Australian and New Zealand producers have continued to shine at the New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC), claiming a total of 19 awards – including two Best in Class – from this year’s winners’ list.

Australia accounted for 15 of the total, taking two Best in Class, eight Gold and five Silver awards, with all but three going to Victorian producers. One of the Best in Class awards went to Victoria’s Cape Schanck Olive Estate for its Coratina, making it two in a row for the company with this varietal, with the other awarded to New South Wales producer Alto Olives for its Alto Vividus (Hardy’s Mammoth).

Cape Schanck Olive Estate in fact topped the winners list, adding Golds for its Picholine, Frantoio and Picual varietals to its haul, while Alto Olives was close behind with an additional Gold for its Robust and Silver for its Delicate.

From there it was Victorian all the way, with double-award winners including Cobram Estate - Golds for Reserve Hojiblanca and Superior Premiere, Grassy Spur Olives - Gold for Picual and Silver for Picholine, and Taralinga Estate - Gold for Picual and Silver for Premium Blend; and Silver awards to Gooramadda Olives for its Hardy’s Mammoth and Leaping Goat Olive Oil for its Blend.

It’s significant to note that all of the 2019 Australian winners are AOA OliveCare® Code of Best Practice members.

New Zealand producers also did our

part of the world proud, with a total of four awards heading even further south. 2018 New Zealand EVOO Awards Best of Show winners Loopline backed up that success with a Gold award for its Picholine, Juno Olives took home double Silver for its Picual and Koroneiki varieties, and Dali another for its Frantoio.

Reflecting a pattern of regional success similar to Australia’s, all of this year’s New Zealand winners were from the Wairarapa region, and all were also major award winners at the 2018 New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards.

Overall, it’s a satisfying haul - and even more impressive given that the winners were all from the 2018 harvest, so the best part of a year old.

That’s gotta be sending a strong message across the globe about the quality and freshness of our local EVOO, so well done and congratulations to all!

Stand-out stats

Of 903 entries, 550 gained awards in this year’s competition, comprised of 18 Best of Class, 366 Gold and 166 Silver.

Australian producers took home 15 Awards from 29 entries, a 52% success rate, with New Zealand’s four awards from six entries providing a 67% success rate.

Japan had a 100% success rate from its five entries, taking four Gold and one Silver awards. The only other clean sweep was Bosnia and Herzegovina, awarded Gold for its one entry.

2019 NYIOOC winners at-a-glance Australia Alto Olives: Best of Class - Vividus; Gold - Robust; Silver - Delicate Cape Schanck Olive Estate: Best of Class – Coratina; Gold - Picholine, Frantoio, Picual Cobram Estate: Gold - Reserve Hojiblanca, Superior Premiere Grassy Spur Olives: Gold – Picual; Silver - Picholine Gooramadda Olives: Silver- Hardy’s Mammoth Leaping Goat Olive Oil: Silver - Blend Taralinga Estate: Gold - Picual, Silver - Premium Blend New Zealand Loopline Olives: Gold - Picholine Juno Olives: Silver – Picual, Koroneiki Dali: Silver - Frantoio

Looking at Best of Class Awards, Italy and Spain led the field with five and four respectively, with Chile and Australia taking two each and Croatia, Portugal, Tunisia, Brazil and Uruguay one each.

Italy and Spain were in fact the stand-out producer countries of the show, with Italy taking home a total of 157 awards (five Best in Class, 118 Gold and 34 Silver from 223 entries – 70% success rate) and Spain 113 awards (four Best in Class, 84 Gold and 25 Silver from 154 entries – 73%). Other high achievers were the United States with 52 awards (28 Gold and 24 Silver from 96 entries – 54%), Croatia just behind with 51 awards (1 Best in Class, 32 Gold and 18 Silver from 61 entries – 84%) and Portugal with 42 awards (one Best in Class, 31 Gold and 10 Silver from 67 entries - 63%).