A LOCALLY produced extra virgin olive oil has beaten dozens of others to secure second place in an internationally acclaimed contest.
Archontiko olive oil, produced by Novel Agro, won a prestigious Mario Solinas Quality Award, organised by the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), said company manager, Petros Maliotis. This is the first time a Cypriot olive oil has won this award and “we are extremely happy” to have earned it, he said.
The International Olive Oil Council, established in 1959, is an intergovernmental organisation whose major objectives include improving olive oil and table olive production, developing international co-operation, standardising international trade through norms and procedures, and expanding olive oil and olive consumption.
In order to take part in the contest, Maliotis said all the olive oils had to fulfil two major IOOC criteria. “They have to have low acidity and their aroma has to comply with extra virgin regulations.”
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best grade of olive oil and, according to the IOOC, has “an absolutely impeccable taste and aroma, is fruity, and the acidity, expressed in oleic acid, may not exceed one per cent”.
The competition drew 48 extra virgin olive oil entries from eight IOOC member countries: Italy (1), Spain (19), Greece (6), France (5), Portugal (6), Israel (1), and Egypt (2). Cyprus only had one entry.
The oils are classified into three groups based on the median intensity of their fruitiness: 64.6 per cent of the oils were entered in the intense fruitiness section and 35.4 per cent in the medium fruitiness section. No oil was classified in the slight fruitiness group.
A panel of seven internationally trained testers judged the competing oils based on an organoleptic appraisal, which is a 100-point assessment and grading of olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste) and retronasal (back of nose and throat) qualities. The tasting took place in a specially designed tasting room at the IOOC headquarters in Madrid, Spain, said Maliotis.
“The oils are judged according to their taste and aroma and six finalists are selected. They are then tested again and places one, two and three are chosen,” he said. The awards are named in posthumous tribute to Dr Mario Solinas, a keen champion of olive oil quality, who helped develop this objective method of assessment.
Cyprus won second prize in the Intense Fruitiness category, following first prizewinner, Castelas Huiles d’Olives from Les Baux de Provence, France. Third prize in the same section went to Rihuelo S.L. Alfaro in La Rioja, Spain.
The prizes – a medal and a diploma – allow the winners to mention the award on their labelling, he added.
Novel Agro is based in a small mountain village near Limassol called Vasa Kellakiou. The olives used to produce Archontiko are selected from many places around the island, said Maliotiou.
At present the company does not export its product and only sells it locally, although it produces enough to do so. However, it has received requests from Malta, Holland and the United Kingdom, he said. But, “the price of European olive oil is very low because it is subsidised by the EU and so our prices are not competitive. When we join in May we will also start exporting,” he said.
Asked if he believed Archontiko would do well in the foreign market, Maliotou said: “The quality is certainly very high, so I’m positive that we can export and do well.”
