World’s Best Olive Oils for 2020 Unveiled

The eighth edition of the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition has completed its week-long reveal of this year’s best extra virgin olive oils.

The one-by-one unveiling ran from Monday until today when the last of the contest’s 584 winning brands went public via an interactive online presentation at 10:45 AM (EST).

The Official Guide to the World’s Best Olive Oils was viewed more than 475,000 times this week by producers, distributors, retailers, food industry professionals, international press, and the general public, organizers reported.

News of the winners has been syndicating worldwide and hundreds of articles on the winners were being shared through the NYIOOC’s feed of dispatches from Olive Oil Times writers and editors.

The new Retail Finder on the Index pinpointed the physical places the winning brands can be found throughout the world, and the Best Olive Oils Marketplace already began populating with the awarded oils directly from the producers and their distributors.

Winning producers and enthusiasts shared their elation through a steady social media buzz that rippled around the world and introduced ever more onlookers to the importance and value of high-quality olive oils.

A food-pairing application that uses an algorithm developed by the NYIOOC and Olive Oil Times suggested award-winning oils to match with popular dishes, as more people than ever explored the detailed information on regions, cultivars, tasting terms, producers and their stories.

But behind the scenes and front-end tools, this NYIOOC has been quite different from past editions.

In March, when the normal ways of life and business were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, organizers of the competition designed an innovative remote-judging system that allowed the analyses to take place in the homes and offices of the international panel of 17 expert tasters.

Curtis Cord, the president of the NYIOOC and editor-in-chief of Olive Oil Times said today he was “extremely satisfied” with the results.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with our judging and technical teams who have shown yet again extraordinary dedication and professionalism at the highest standards for which the NYIOOC is known and olive oil producers deserve.” Cord said.

Cord has long stated that the aim of the industry’s premier annual event was not only to celebrate the year’s award winners but to recognize the value all producers provide and educate the public on matters of olive oil quality.

“The 2020 edition has made great strides in our mission to educate people everywhere on the value of high-quality extra virgin olive oils,” Cord said, “and the heroic efforts by all who are dedicated to crafting them.”

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