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Madrid – The results of the 18th Mario Solinas Competition – the most prestigious international quality award for extra virgin olive oil worldwide, organised by the International Olive Council (IOC) – were presented in Madrid at a press conference held at the headquarters of the Organisation. The competition received entries from 189 companies in 11 producer countries.
Abdellatif Ghedira, the Executive Director of the IOC, presented the competition indicating that, “We are sharing with you the fruit of the great efforts made by producers around the world, who have given the best of themselves, of their land and their expertise to give us olive oils with physico-chemical and organoleptic qualities that have been carefully assessed by qualified international experts”.
The first prizes of the 2018 competition went to companies from China, Morocco, Portugal and Spain. Runner-up medals and finalist prizes in the various categories were awarded to Morocco, Portugal, Spain and France; while finalist prizes, recognising high quality in extra virgin olive oil, also went to companies from Italy and Tunisia.
Jaime Lillo, Deputy Executive Director of the IOC, announced that, “This year we will present the Mario Solinas prizes on 29th of June in New York, in recognition of the United States which, with 37% of the market, is the first global importer of olive oil. Most importantly, the IOC will be present at one of the most important worldwide events for the promotion of the food and agriculture industry, reaffirming the concept of high quality in extra virgin olive oil, which lies at the heart of the IOC’s international competition”.
“The Mario Solinas Quality Award rewards the best sensory profiles of the crop year worldwide, selected from the batches of over 3000 litres submitted to the IOC” explained Mercedes Fernández Albaladejo, Head of the Standardisation and Research Unit of the IOC. “This is an international institutional award, which is not-for-profit and is judged by an international jury made up of nine leaders of panels recognised by the IOC for the ongoing crop year”.
This is good news for the the IOC’s new International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives: two years after its entry into force, IOC Members account for close to 94% of world production of olive oil, 96% of world trade in olive oil and 72% of consumption of olive oil.
Madrid, 12 April 2018
