Croatian Producers Launch ‘Ultra Virgin’ Category for Top Dalmatian Olive Oils

Croatia’s Dalmatian olive growers have launched a new “ultra virgin” category for olive oil, with the first 5,000 liters expected to reach the market under a stricter set of standards designed to distinguish exceptional quality.

According to the initiative’s organizers, olive oil production in Dalmatia accounts for about 85 percent of Croatia’s output. “Most of our oils are of top quality, as confirmed by numerous awards from international competitions,” said Ivica Vlatković, a physician and olive grower from Novigrad in northern Dalmatia.

While extra virgin olive oil remains the highest official commercial grade, Vlatković and other supporters of the project argue that existing standards are too broad to clearly identify oils with exceptional sensory, chemical and health-related characteristics. They say a new classification is needed to highlight oils of outstanding quality in a visible and measurable way.

The idea was first presented publicly last September in Postira, on the island of Brač, during an international olive oil symposium organized by Olive Oil Times and the Postira tourism board. Later in the year, producers from all four Dalmatian counties formed the Oleum Primum Dalmaticum club to establish rules for the category, from cultivation and harvest through certification and sale.

Under the new rules, oils must be made from Dalmatian olive varieties, harvested by hand or with hand-held shakers and milled on the same day using cold extraction. Organizers said the goal is to preserve freshness and ensure a higher level of quality than that required by the Codex Alimentarius and the International Olive Council.

Zlatko Burić, the club’s secretary, said one of the key requirements concerns the oil’s health profile. While there is no minimum polyphenol threshold for extra virgin olive oil, and the European Commission permits a health claim for oils containing at least 250 milligrams per kilogram, Dalmatian ultra virgin oils must contain a minimum of 300 milligrams per kilogram of polyphenols.

The category also imposes stricter limits on free fatty acidity and peroxide values, both widely used indicators in olive oil testing. Free fatty acidity is capped at 0.4 percent, half the maximum allowed for extra virgin, while the maximum peroxide value is reduced from 20 to 8 mmol O2 per kilogram.

To qualify, each oil must also have won at least one Gold or Silver Award at a major international competition and one award at a national competition. Organizers said the first certified oils were selected after chemical and sensory analyses carried out by the Teaching Institute of Public Health of Split-Dalmatia County, with the results presented at a recent gathering of Dalmatian olive associations and producers.

At the meeting, certificates were awarded to 22 olive oils from small farms across the Dalmatian coast, hinterland and islands. Vlatković also announced that his estate in Novigrad would serve as the new educational center of the Oleum Primum Dalmaticum club.

Supporters of the project said every bottle bearing the protected Oleum Primum Dalmaticum Ultra Virgin label will include a QR code to improve traceability and reassure buyers about origin and quality. They argue the new category could help consumers navigate a market they say is crowded with increasingly expensive oils of uneven quality.

The initiative has also received support from Mirella Žanetić of the Institute for Adriatic Crops, who said there is room within the extra virgin category for a more precise classification. For the producers behind the effort, the first 5,000 liters represent more than a commercial launch. They see it as the beginning of a long-term attempt to set a higher benchmark for olive oil quality in Dalmatia and, eventually, beyond.