25 Years Celebrating Excellence in Extra Virgin Olive Oils

The International Olive Council (IOC) is pleased and proud to announce the winners of the 2025 edition of the Mario Solinas Quality Award for extra virgin olive oils from the Northern Hemisphere. This edition holds special significance as it marks the 25th anniversary of the competition, a global benchmark for the promotion of olive oil quality.

This year’s competition, launched in December 2024, attracted 130 extra virgin olive oils from Algeria, China, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Türkiye. The oils were submitted by individual producers, associations and packer companies, and were classified according to the competition rules in the following categories: robust green fruitiness, medium green fruitiness, delicate green fruitiness, ripe fruitiness, small-scale producers and packers.

This diversity in the perception of fruitiness is due to the variety, terrain and climate characteristic of the olive groves from which the oils are produced, as well as the producers’ know-how in grove management, fruit harvesting and oil extraction. It is this multiplicity of tastes and aromas that makes olive oil so appealing to consumers seeking flavours to complement every meal.

An international jury of nine expert tasters evaluated the participating oils, scoring their olfactory, gustatory and retronasal sensations, as well as their harmony, complexity and persistence. Spanish oils stood out in this edition, winning 25 out of the 32 awards, followed by Tunisia, Italy, Portugal and Croatia.

Jaime Lillo, Executive Director of the only international organisation exclusively dedicated to the olive sector, stated that this award “reaffirms the IOC’s firm commitment to excellence and allows us to recognise and promote the work of producers and packers who, with effort and passion, transform olives into a unique, healthy product, rich in nuances and flavours.”

The awards ceremony will take place on 22 May at the IOC headquarters in Madrid.

25 Years of Recognised Quality

The Mario Solinas Quality Award was created in 1993 in tribute to Dr Mario Solinas, an Italian chemist and distinguished member of the IOC’s group of experts, whose work was crucial to the establishment of the first scientific method for the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil. This method, adopted by the IOC in 1986, marked a major milestone for the sector and remains the international reference standard today.

Since the first official edition of the award in 2000/01, the competition has grown in prestige, number of participants and international visibility. Over the years, it has been opened to all countries – whether IOC members or not – and its categories and requirements have evolved. Since 2024, the Mario Solinas Quality Award has also been held in the Southern Hemisphere to better reflect the diversity of origins, varieties, climates and expertise that enrich the world of extra virgin olive oil.

Through this award, the IOC reaffirms its firm commitment to excellence in olive oil quality and recognises the work of producers and packers who, with effort and passion, transform olives into a unique, healthy product, rich in nuances and flavours.

You can consult the winners of the 2025 Mario Solinas Quality Award here in English, French and Spanish.

About the IOC

The International Olive Council (IOC) is the only international intergovernmental organisation dedicated to olive oil and table olives. It was established in 1959 under the auspices of the United Nations, with the aim of making a decisive contribution to the sustainable development of the sector by promoting quality, research, and international trade in olive oil and table olives. The member countries account for more than 95% of the world’s olive production.