`South African Producers Persevere to Win 4 NYIOOC Awards - Olive Oil Times
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South African Producers Persevere to Win 4 NYIOOC Awards

By Lisa Anderson
May. 19, 2020 16:10 UTC

Part of our con­tin­u­ing cov­er­age of the 2020 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

The results of the 2020 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition were received enthu­si­as­ti­cally by South African olive oil pro­duc­ers, who yet again saw their brands on the Official Guide to the World’s Best Olive Oils.

It gives us the abil­ity to mea­sure our­selves against other qual­ity pro­duc­ers and reaf­firms that South Africa can com­pete on the world stage.- Brenda Wilkinson, co-owner of Rio Largo

“We are delighted to win a Gold Award at NYIOOC,” said Brenda Wilkinson, who co-owns Rio Largo in the Scherpenheuwel Valley with her hus­band, Nick. The pair earned a Gold Award for their medium blend.

Overall, South Africa received four awards at this year’s NYIOOC, two Golds and two Silvers.

See Also:The Best South African Olive Oils

“It also gives us the abil­ity to mea­sure our­selves against other qual­ity pro­duc­ers and reaf­firms that South Africa can com­pete on the world stage.”

“We really needed it this year,” she added. ​“It is such fab­u­lous expo­sure, but also more than that. It is a pat on the back for Nick for his pas­sion and hard work. It has been tough going after the drought.”

Wilkinson said the key fac­tors in Rio Largo’s suc­cess were pay­ing atten­tion to detail in both the groves and the mill; hand­pick­ing all of the olives and pro­cess­ing them on the same day; select­ing the olives at their opti­mal ripeness, and allow­ing no lee­way regard­ing hygiene.

Additional fac­tors in the pair’s suc­cess were their ded­i­cated staff mem­bers and irri­ga­tion sys­tem, which was crit­i­cal to sus­tain­ing their grove in its semi-desert micro­cli­mate.

Philip King, gen­eral man­ager of Mardouw Olive Estate, which is sit­u­ated at the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains in the country’s Western Cape, said they were very happy with win­ning a Silver Award for their medium blend.

“It once again shows that Mardouw is con­sis­tent in pro­duc­ing world-class extra vir­gin olive oils,” King said.

He attrib­uted the win to the fact that their olives are hand­picked and that the oil was extracted from the best cul­ti­vars on the same day. King added that the region’s Mediterranean cli­mate also helped, pro­vid­ing the per­fect con­di­tions for olive cul­ti­va­tion.

SA Olive man­ager Karien Bezuidenhout said the high qual­ity of South African olive oil is a reflec­tion of the industry’s resilience and abil­ity to adapt and inno­vate.

“Thank you Andante Intenso, Greenleaf Olive Company, Mardouw Olive Estate and Rio Largo Premium for fly­ing the South African flag high and con­grat­u­la­tions on your wins,” she said.

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