New Zealand’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards

New Zealand’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards – Record Entry

Entries in New Zealand’s most prestigious competition for extra virgin olive oil closed on September, with a new record of almost 100 entries received.

The 2014 New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards have attracted entries from all of the major olive growing regions across the country.

The Awards judging will be carried out at Massey University’s specialist food tasting laboratory at their Albany Campus from 22nd comprises six trained and experienced international and New Zealand olive oil tasters.

The Head Judge is Franca Camurati from Italy, complemented by Jenny Birrell and Trudie Michels from Australia and Raffaela Delmonte, Rachel Costello and Rachel Priestley from New Zealand. All of the judges are formally trained olive oil tasters and very experienced as The Awards Dinner will be held at Parliament Buildings, Wellington on Saturday 4th at which the award winners will be announced. The premium awards are the Best in Classes, Best Boutique and Best in Show. There is also special awards for Best Label and Best Processor.

“This season has seen a bumper harvest with many sensational oils produced.

Competition is going to be fierce for the top awards with a record entry received” says Gayle Sheridan, Executive Officer for Olives New Zealand. “New Zealand olive growers highly value the opportunity of having their Extra Virgin Olive Oils assessed by international experts.”

Head Judge, Franca Camurati was previously the head olive oil chemist and Leader of the sensory panel at SSOG (Stazione Sperimentale per le Industrie degli Oli e dei Grassi), Milan. SSOG is one of Italy's leading institutes for olive oil. Franca now continues her role as one of a small group of lecturers for the International Olive Oil Council (IOC) and runs courses across Europe for panel leaders and tasters. She has also been a judge for the Mario Solinas Awards, the IOC's most prestigious olive oil competition, and other international competitions.
The judging panel

“The New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards are the premier olive oil competition in New Zealand.” Sheridan says. “They require that all entries have met the strict International Olive Oil Council’s chemical and sensory analysis as Extra Virgin Olive Oil and that they are packaged and labelled appropriately. These oils carry the red OliveMark® as a sign to the consumer that the product has met the strict standards for Olives New Zealand Certification, is extra virgin, of high quality and an authentic product.”

“A further mark of excellence will be a medal from the Olives New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards. “

A full list of results will be available on the Olives New Zealand website on Sunday 5th October.

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