It’s an event that is rapidly growing in size every single year. This year, the fourth New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC), deemed the world’s biggest and most prestigious competition of its kind, will be bigger than it ever has. There will be more than 800 olive oil brands representing 27 countries, all of which will be vying for Silver, Gold and Best in Class awards.
The event occurs in New York City from April 11th through the 14th. The brands that take home prizes can rightfully claim to be among the best in the world. The awards are determined by a panel of international olive oil experts with many years of experience in the industry. All of the results will be announced live in a press conference streamed online on Thursday, April 14.
According to event organizers, the record-breaking amount of entries this year shows there has been some recovery in the industry after a couple years of crops and harvests being horribly damaged by pests and diseases in European trees.
My Olive Tree’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Northern Israel is light and full of delicate flavor; our Northern Israel oil is perfect for salad dressings, marinades, or as a hummus topping! It mixes well with the spices of your choice leaving you with a smooth and well-balanced flavor. “I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.” —Amos 9:14
It also is reflective of some of the scandal currently facing the olive oil industry. There have been numerous reports that many oils claiming to be “extra virgin” brands do not, in fact, meet the standards necessary to be considered truly extra virgin. By entering their oils in this competition, which is specifically designed to celebrate the best extra virgin olive oils in the world, brands can get some extra support to their claims of their oils meeting the highest standards of quality and purity.
The NYIOOC also announced the release of a new pairing app to help people pick the best foods that match with the award-winning oils. The app has already been used more than a half million times, and it was only just launched in January. The NYIOOC team is also working on another new app that would let users scan any olive oil bottle to view its quality and, if it competed in the NYIOOC itself, its scores from judges. This would, the team hopes, resolve some of the issues buyers face with having trouble determining whether an oil is truly extra virgin.
We will be following this competition with great interest!