The 2017 New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC) featured more than 200 producers, retailers, distributors, and chefs who judged the world’s finest extra-virgin olive oils.
One thing was clear to the judges and attendees: There are more outstanding olive oils in the world today than there have ever been before, making this something of a Golden Age for the industry.
In total, 463 oils were considered among the world’s best by expert judges who traveled from around the globe to come to the competition. This marked 149 more than the previous year. In addition, the overall success rate of oils judged at the competition rose from 38 percent in 2016 to 51 in 2017. This was due in large part to the fact that there were more first-time contestants than there had ever been before.
It’s not as though the judging for the olive oils has gotten any more lax; in fact, the judging panel had extremely meticulous judges with stringent standards of quality that the oils must achieve in order to be considered world-class. This means the producers whose oils are achieving that quality are putting in a lot of extra hard work and effort to make oil the quality being seen on a larger scale than ever at these types of competitions.
A total of 910 olive oil producers submitted samples for judging to the NYIOOC at the 2017 competition—a number that was also larger than any previous year. This turnout came despite another difficult harvest season that resulted in a 30 percent total decrease in production around the world. The producers came from 20 countries, which was also an increase from 15 in 2016. While many of these countries were traditional olive oil powerhouses like Italy, Spain, and Greece, other countries not usually known for their olives also submitted oils, including South Africa, Slovenia, Uruguay, Morocco, Brazil, Croatia, and China.
Demand for extra virgin olive oil has increased across the board as customers have become more aware of its benefits and are using their discretion in their purchases, seeking out only the highest-quality oils. At My Olive Tree, not only is our oil of impeccable quality, but the purchases go toward benefiting various humanitarian aid initiatives we sponsor in Israel.
For more information about our oils, contact us today!