Postira, Croatia Hosts International Olive Oil Symposium Highlighting Regional Excellence

POSTIRA, Croatia — The International Symposium on Olive Oil of Croatia and the Adriatic Coast opened last night at the Grand Hotel View on the island of Brač.

“The goal is to place Croatian olive grow­ing firmly on the global map of excel­lence,” said Curtis Cord, founder of Olive Oil Times and pres­i­dent of the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world’s largest olive oil qual­ity con­test.

The sym­po­sium wel­comed rep­re­sen­ta­tives from Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, as well as one hun­dred atten­dees from at least 15 coun­tries.

Cord joined Ivana Jeličić, Director of the Postira Tourist Board, Vicko Haladić, rep­re­sen­ta­tive of Split-Dalmatia County, and Toni Glavinić, Mayor of Postira, in greet­ing the par­tic­i­pants.

“It is an honor and a priv­i­lege to host a sym­po­sium of this scale,” Jeličić said. She recalled the col­lab­o­ra­tion with Olive Oil Times that began in 2017 with the World Olive Picking Championship. The pan­demic later delayed plans for an olive oil som­me­lier course.

“Now is the right time to con­tinue our coop­er­a­tion through this sym­po­sium, which is impor­tant not only for Postira, Brač, and Croatia, but for the entire Adriatic coast,” she added, thank­ing Cord for accept­ing the invi­ta­tion.

“It is a great priv­i­lege to be here on Brač, where I finally have the oppor­tu­nity to meet dis­tin­guished pro­duc­ers I have read so much about, together with advi­sors, researchers, agron­o­mists, and enthu­si­asts who sup­port the renowned qual­ity of this region’s prod­ucts,” Cord said.

He thanked the spon­sors, par­tic­u­larly the Postira Tourist Board, before look­ing ahead. ​“Over the next few days, we will learn from one another, explore new ideas for advanc­ing our indus­try, and cel­e­brate the her­itage and unique qual­i­ties of olive oils from this region.”

Cord noted that pro­duc­ers in Spain, Italy and other major pro­duc­tion areas had rev­o­lu­tion­ized prac­tices to pre­serve nutri­tional and sen­sory qual­i­ties and build strong brands. But he reserved his high­est praise for the Adriatic.

“We have never seen such a dra­matic rise in qual­ity on the world stage as we have wit­nessed here,” Cord said. ​“People every­where are dis­cov­er­ing that the Balkan penin­sula has some of the world’s finest olive oils.”

Cord empha­sized that excel­lence in the Adriatic is not only about ter­roir. ​“The same ter­roir can give very dif­fer­ent results,” he said. ​“Here, it is about the ded­i­ca­tion of tal­ented peo­ple whose efforts have earned world­wide recog­ni­tion.”

He empha­sized the role of olive oil in human health and sus­tain­abil­ity. ​“Extra vir­gin olive oil helps peo­ple live longer, health­ier lives. That is not a mar­ket­ing claim — it is proven by cen­turies of research from the world’s lead­ing sci­en­tists.”

Olive oil pro­duc­tion, he added, is car­bon-neg­a­tive, remov­ing more car­bon than it emits, while also strength­en­ing rural com­mu­ni­ties and pre­serv­ing tra­di­tions.

“Today, it is easy to be cyn­i­cal,” Cord said. ​“But you here are mak­ing the world bet­ter — pro­duc­ing some­thing essen­tial, safe­guard­ing tra­di­tions, and offer­ing a prod­uct that con­nects peo­ple every­where.”

Cord’s remarks drew a stand­ing ova­tion.

The sym­po­sium con­tin­ued today with tast­ing courses led by inter­na­tion­ally rec­og­nized instruc­tors, includ­ing a cer­tifi­cate pro­gram in sen­sory eval­u­a­tion.

Marketing strate­gies for olive oil brands drew par­tic­u­lar atten­tion, with young Croatian sci­en­tist Mira Lepur join­ing Cord in a work­shop.

Participants also vis­ited the ethno-eco vil­lage of Dol, where they saw tra­di­tional stone bee­hives and explored the Brač olive land­scape, before tour­ing the Postira Agricultural Cooperative.

The coop­er­a­tive, with 83 mem­bers, processed 1.7 mil­lion kilo­grams of olives last sea­son and mar­keted 43 tons of olive oil. Its prod­ucts are sold in Postira shops and in major retail­ers across Croatia.

The pro­gram con­tin­ues through Thursday, September 18, cul­mi­nat­ing in a clos­ing cer­e­mony that hon­ors out­stand­ing pro­duc­ers and the Adriatic region’s grow­ing impor­tance in the world of extra-vir­gin olive oil.

Organizers announced the Olive Oil Times Champion of Excellence Awards, which will rec­og­nize indi­vid­u­als whose ded­i­ca­tion, lead­er­ship, and vision have sig­nif­i­cantly advanced the high-qual­ity olive oil sec­tor.