Best results despite adverse circumstances - Olive Oil Award at BIOFACH 2024
The winners of the Olive Oil Award at BIOFACH 2024 had every reason to celebrate. Despite the difficult conditions, they had managed to produce outstanding oils that were recognised accordingly by the trade audience at the trade fair.
The year 2023 was extremely challenging for most olive oil producers in Europe. The spectrum of threats to the harvest ranged from extreme drought to heavy rainfall and fires. This made the participation of 41 olive oils in the extra virgin category at the world of experience "Olive Oil" at BIOFACH all the more pleasing.
One special thing about the Olive Oil Award at BIOFACH is the jury. It consists exclusively of trade visitors to the fair. They are allowed to taste four different oils in a flight and judge them on a scale of 1 to 10 according to the criteria of smell, flavour and overall impression. The oils are presented in official blue tasting glasses, anonymised with a code. The results are entered on the fly. This means that the winners can celebrate their success at an awards ceremony on the penultimate day of the fair.
Each oil was tasted 14 times this year, meaning that 574 people took part in the award. Due to the naturally lower participation this year, awards were given to the TOP10 and ten other recommendations. The top 20 included the well-known producer countries Italy, Spain and Greece.
In a very tight field, first place went to an oil from Calabria in southern Italy, followed by a Spaniard from the Andalusia region. Overall, the distribution of awards was evenly balanced, with no country standing out. This probably also reflects the taste of the market, which was represented by the trade visitors.
The strong turnout at the awards ceremony gives us an optimistic outlook for the future, for which we hope to see a good harvest - with a correspondingly large turnout at Biofach 2025.
