An unexpected blow to the quality of Spanish olive oil

Nobody expected surprise at this year’s World Olive Oil Competition, but Italian and American brands put an end to the long dominance of Spanish producers in one of the most prestigious and recognized international competitions.

So, according to the results published by the journal Olive oil timepublication specializing in the olive oil industry, Italian producers won 147 of the 217 categories submitted, while Americans took home 95 of the 140 awards they sought.

Manufacturers from Croatia, one of the countries that grew the most this year with a winning percentage exceeding 82%, could not surpass the 82 awards of Spain, which had to settle for third place in the table this year.

These results, in addition to being a heavy blow to the Spanish olive oil industry, long considered a world leader in quality, also reflect the negative impact that climate change has had on the global 2023 harvest and on the overall success rate in each country. which has decreased.

Development of single-varietal and more ecological varieties.

The jury of the international competition, which this year had to analyze aspects such as fruitiness, bitterness, spiciness and harmony of more than 900 extra virgin olive oils from around the world, confirmed a trend that has been observed for three years: single-varietal brands achieve better results than multi-varietal brands.

Despite the overall decline in quality, there is a noticeable increase in the presence of organic olive oil. 36% of applications this year are in this category, which, with an 8% increase over 2022, represents the largest share to date.