Farmers and millers from the world’s largest olive oil-producing country earned 82 awards, overcoming high temperatures and drought in the process.
Olive farmers and millers in Spain, the world’s largest olive oil-producing country, once again overcame extreme temperatures and dry weather to produce world-class extra virgin olive oil.
Eighty-two extra virgin olive oil brands from six autonomous communities earned awards at the 2024 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.
We can see that all of our hard work is paying off (by winning two Gold Awards) and that the centuries of olive oil tradition have not gone to waste on the Valdueza family- John Cancilla, sales manager, Marqués de Valdueza
According to the latest data, Spain produced 846,800 tons in the 2023/24 crop year, significantly below the average of the past half-decade but far higher than last year’s historically poor harvest.
Farmers and millers overcame the combination of many olive trees producing less fruit and lower oil accumulation levels due to extreme spring temperature swings and the impacts of the drought.
See Also:The best extra virgin olive oils from SpainHigh temperatures in the autumn, when many producers started their early harvests, also complicated efforts to produce award-winning extra virgin olive oil.
This was especially true in Andalusia, Spain’s largest olive oil-producing region, where two-thirds of the country’s World Competition awards were won. Spain’s largest autonomous community produced 574,295 tons in the 2023/24 crop year.
“This year has been especially difficult because the high temperatures in October have made it difficult for the olive tree to synthesize the oil and for us to perform cold extraction in the mill,” said Juan Ignacio, the chief executive of La Olivilla, which earned its tenth consecutive World Competition award for Dehesa de la Sabina.
He described winning the Gold Award for the organic medium-intensity Picual as “the happiest of endings” after a “complicated harvest.”
“The award allows us to consolidate and position Dehesa de la Sabina as a reference in the international market and differentiate our oil from others,” Ignacio added.
Fellow Andalusian producer Luque Ecológico also celebrated winning a Gold Award at the 2024 NYIOOC.
Similarly, the organic farmers overcame high temperatures and drought to win a ninth straight award. Still, they admitted that the company produced about half as much olive oil as it would in an average year.
While winning awards at the competition vindicates the ability of organic and sustainable production to achieve consistently high quality, sales and quality manager Rafael Gálvez said the awards are also among the best marketing tools.
“These awards are undoubtedly marketing tools that help companies position their products as high quality and are appreciated by customers,” he said. “It helps to position the image of the company and help with sales.”
On the other side of Spain, farmers and millers in Catalonia earned the second-highest amount of NYIOOC awards with 12.
During the harvest, producers in the autonomous community, Spain’s fourth-highest producing region, also overcame severe drought, including water restrictions in Catalonia’s eastern half.
“Winning the Silver Award at NYIOOC is an honor for us,” said Alba Comadran Turu, a spokesperson at Lleida-based Guadea. “It recognizes our constant commitment to excellence and quality in every step of our production process. We are proud that our efforts are reflected in this prestigious award.”
She added, “We face various challenges in producing our high-quality extra virgin olive oil. “From varying weather conditions to the meticulous selection of olives, each stage of the process presents its own challenges.”
Gaudea specializes in producing Arbequina monovarietal extra virgin olive oil with the Les Garrigues Protected Designation of Origin certification. Comadran said winning at the NYIOOC will help raise the profile of their brand internationally.
“We are confident that the NYIOOC award will have a significant impact on our brand, especially in the international market,” she said. “We hope that this recognition will open new opportunities for us in the market and strengthen our position in the production of premium olive oils.”
Situated less than 200 kilometers from the Catalan coastline, producers on Mallorca in the Balearic Islands combined to earn three awards at the World Competition.
“It’s an honor to have achieved this award, which we understand as recognition for our constant improvement in our search for excellence,“ said Mariano Valdés.
The chief executive of Son Moragues 1921 hailed the company’s Gold Award for an organic medium Empeltre. “This distinction confirms that we are on the right path,” he said.
See Also:World Competition updatesThe company focuses on producing olive oil from organically cultivated centenary trees on dry stone terraces in the heart of the Tramuntana Mountains.
“This year, we have been lucky in terms of weather, and the season has been good,” Valdés said. “However, increasing climate instability, irregular rainfall, mild winters and extreme summers are making the survival of this valuable natural and cultural heritage increasingly difficult.”
Son Moragues 1921 is expanding into new markets, and Valdés believes that the award will help the company attract new customers.
“Knowing the prestige that this distinction grants, we predict an important boost in the consolidation of our brand, which could not come at a better time,” he said.
On the Spanish mainland, producers in Castilla-La Mancha, the country’s second-largest producing region, celebrated winning nine NYIOOC awards.
Among the winners were the more than 750 families who make up the Olivarera de Valdepeñas social cooperative, also known as Colival, which earned a Gold Award for a medium Arbequina.
“Our success is working as a team with the farmer,” said Eva Díaz, a spokeswoman for the cooperative.
Since extra virgin olive oil begins with high-quality fruit, she praised the member farmers for their crucial role in another successful season in Valdepeñas, about two hours south of Madrid.
“We advise the farmer on the optimal time of harvesting, sacrificing performance in exchange for quality,” Díaz said. “This way, we obtain olive juice with organoleptic qualities different from other oils. In the oil mill, we pamper the olives, working without temperature, a quick process and obtaining a product full of polyphenols.”
While Castilla-La Mancha had not been spared from the impacts of the hot weather and drought, Díaz said the water stress had contributed to the cooperative’s success at the World Competition.
See Also:Olive Oil Times World Rankings“Castilla-La Mancha experienced a severe drought and very dry temperatures in summer, which caused water stress in the fruit and, therefore, led to the pungency and bitterness in the oil,” she said.
Díaz believes sustained success at the World Competition – Colival has been awarded in each of the last nine editions of the contest – helps the cooperative export into the lucrative North American market.
She said, “The impact is converted into a marketing and sales strategy in the North American area. Awards are brand positioning.”
In neighboring Extremadura – Spain’s third-largest producing region, which experienced the greatest production increase in the 2023/24 crop year – the team behind Marqués de Valdueza also celebrated the role their two latest World Competition awards would play in exporting their products.
The company, which originates in the House of Alvarez de Toledo and has been producing olive oil since 1624, celebrated the Gold Awards for a pair of medium blends: its flagship Maqués de Valdueza and Merula brands.
“By constantly receiving NYIOOC awards, we have been able to give tangible proof to the market that Marqués de Valdueza is an olive oil that can be ranked among the best in the world,” said sales manager John Cancilla. “We feel that this accolade has enhanced the prestige of our oil and, in turn, helped sales in the very competitive U.S. market.”
Dispute the challenges faced in producing its extra virgin olive oil, Cancilla attributed the company’s success to a vertically integrated farming and milling that allows it to monitor quality at every step in the process.
“The most significant element that gave us this outstanding oil is the constant application of our integrated production method,” Cancilla confirmed. “This method entails careful planning and execution of norms and procedures that give us a Marqués de Valdueza olive oil capable of consistently winning the NYIOOC Gold Award, year after year.”
“We can see that all of our hard work is paying off and that the centuries of olive oil tradition have not gone to waste on the Valdueza family,” he concluded.
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