At the 2021 edition of the Olivinus international olive oil competition in Argentina, Greek olive oils claimed 52 of the 243 awards. Competing with 419 olive oils from 17 countries, Greek companies distinguished themselves at the largest olive oil competition in the Southern Hemisphere, a contest many also consider the most important in South America.

It is remarkable that olive oils from Northern Hemisphere countries such as Greece—oils from olives harvested the previous autumn or winter—can successfully compete with the Southern Hemisphere’s recently-produced oils, since olive oil quality gradually deteriorates as time passes. As Mediterre’s Konstantinos Papadopoulos told Greek Liquid Gold, “Olivinus is the last big olive oil competition of the [Northern Hemisphere’s] harvesting year. Taking part and being awarded in this competition proves the durability of the high quality that our EVOO products have.”

Similarly, Nick Sakellaropoulos considers Olivinus a "challenge, the final test of each harvest year” for Northern Hemisphere producers, with Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms’ multiple awards “another confirmation of the work that has been put into each olive oil’s production.” Coming 12 months after Laconiko’s harvest, as Diamantis Pierrakos commented, Olivinus “awards prove to us and our consumers that we managed to produce an olive oil that retains its quality over time.”

The top Greek award winner at Olivinus this year was Mediterre Eurofood S.A. Mediterre Omphacium was designated the Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Greece, the Best Monovarietal EVOO at the competition, and one of the competition’s Top 20 Extra Virgin Olive Oils. Mediterre captured five Grand Prestige Golds and a Prestige Gold for their monovarietal EVOOs and blends, which are made from several olive varieties grown in the area of Ancient Olympia: Koroneiki, Kolireiki, Manaki, and the Olympia variety unique to that region.

Papadopoulos attributes his team’s success to “love and devotion to what we do,” a refusal to compromise when it comes to proper practices, a team of experts engaged in “constant research in order to improve the quality of our products every year,” and investments in their team of olive producers and in their “state-of-the-art facilities for olive oil production and packaging.”

Laconiko was another big winner at Olivinus, taking home 15 awards, including the prize for the Best Flavored Olive Oil for Laconiko Basil, 9 Grand Prestige Golds (for 2 EVOOs and 7 flavored oils), 3 Prestige Golds, and 2 Golds. Working with Koroneiki variety olives grown in sandy soil just 50 meters from the sea in Laconia, Peloponnese, the Pierrakos family and their team “make an olive oil that reflects our passion, hard work, values and constant drive for perfection. We do not have an ‘I am the boss’ mentality, pointing a finger and giving orders to get things done. We are the workers on our land. Our olive oil and our olive trees are everything to us.” What do they expect from this year’s harvest, which is now underway? “All we expect is perfection in our efforts,” says Pierrakos, “and our quality will surely be there.”

In their 30th year in business, Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms extended their long winning streak with 4 Grand Prestige Golds (for 2 EVOOs and 2 of their unique gourmet flavored olive oil blends), 4 Prestige Golds, and 5 Golds at Olivinus. With generations of experience cultivating olives in the area of Sparta, Laconia, Nick Sakellaropoulos told Greek Liquid Gold the Sakellaropoulos family remains “focused on the quality of the olive oil and olives. We have already started the olive picking, and the first olive oils of this harvest season have excellent characteristics, based on chemical and sensory analyses we have performed. We expect an exceptional harvest quality-wise, based on the first results.”

Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises (HAE) captured 3 Grand Prestige Golds (2 for EVOOs, one for their Acaia olive oil flavored with grapefruit and bergamot) and 4 Prestige Golds. HAE’s olive oils are made from Kolovi olives grown on hilly terrain in the southern part of the island of Lesvos. Ellie Tragakes gives the credit for her company’s distinctions to their “team of hard-working and highly committed individuals who believe that our success should be based on achieving the highest possible quality for our products. Our awards are an acknowledgement of our efforts, and our exacting production standards and quality control.”

With their first entries at Olivinus, the three-year-old company enKardia took home two Grand Prestige Gold awards and an Olivinus Kids prize. Aimilia-Maria Dimitroulopoulou told Greek Liquid Gold that in Greek “enKardia” means “‘from the heart,’ and while following our heart we seek to realize our vision and goal to produce extra virgin olive oil of very low acidity with a balanced taste and health claims.” With family olive groves growing for generations at the foot of Mount Parnon near Sparta, Peloponnese, Dimitroulopoulou believes her team’s success is due to the microclimate, the Koroneiki olive variety, and their cultivation and production methods, which combine respect for the environment with both tradition and innovation.  

Farther south on the island of Crete, Terra Creta is celebrating a highly successful year by adding to their long award list a Grand Prestige Gold for their Grand Cru Koroneiki extra virgin olive oil. As Emmanouil Karpadakis explained to Greek Liquid Gold, “we believe that understanding our position in a global environment through a reputable competition like Olivinus is important.” He attributes Terra Creta’s many awards in prestigious competitions to his team’s “clear vision, continuous knowledge improvement, commitment, investment in people and infrastructure, and a lot of work.” While “it is too early to be 100% sure,” Karpadakis expects even “better quality, but slightly lower yield,” in his area this year.

At Olivinus, nearly a year after many Greek olives were harvested, Greek olive oil companies demonstrated that hard work and dedication to good cultivation, production, and storage processes enable long-lasting high quality. Never content to settle for past success, they are now focused on getting the best possible results from this year’s crop of Greek olives.

Olivinus 2021 Awards for Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oils

Special Awards

• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Omphacium – Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Greece
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Omphacium – Best Monovarietal    
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Omphacium – TOP 20 OLIVINUS 2021  

Grand Prestige Gold Awards

• Enkardia Aimilia-Maria Dimitroulopoulou – Enkardia Traditional          
• Enkardia Aimilia-Maria Dimitroulopoulou – Enkardia Ultra Premium      
• G-Team – Hypereleon Gold          
• G-Team – Hypereleon Nutri - Arcadian Mountains          
• G-Team – Hypereleon Ultra Gold          
• Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises P.C. – Acaia          
• Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises P.C. – Aeolian Olive Organic          
• Hellenic Fields Ltd. – Ena Ena Organic PGI Olympia          
• Hellenic Fields Ltd. – Ena Ena Ultra Superior PGI Olympia          
• Kyklopas Elaiotriveio Argyri Kelidi S.A. – Kyklopas Ages P.D.O. Makris          
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko          
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Olio Nuovo          
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Alea          
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Lena          
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Olymp Olympia PGI          
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Olymp Olympia PGI Organic      
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Omphacium          
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Agourelaio Early Harvest Organic Koroneiki      
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Fyllikon First Harvest Organic Koroneiki      
• Terra Creta S.A. – Terra Creta Grand Cru

Prestige Gold Awards

• Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises P.C. – Acaia Organic          
• Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises P.C. – Aeolian Olive          
• Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises P.C. – L&Ko Organic          
• Mediterre Eurofood S.A. – Mediterre Omphacium Organic          
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Armonikon Organic Koroneiki

Gold Awards

• Hellenic Fields Ltd. – Ena Ena Three Roots          
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Armonia Organic Koroneiki   

Olivinus 2021 Awards for Greek Flavored Olive Oils

(This is the complete list of awards for flavored oils—with all the winners coming from Greece.) 

• Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises P.C. – Acaia Flavored with Grapefruit & Bergamot  – Grand Prestige Gold         
• Hellenic Agricultural Enterprises P.C. – Acaia Flavored with Lemon & Oregano – Prestige Gold          
• Hellenic Fields Ltd. – Ena Ena Flavored Lemon Thyme – Gold         
• Hellenic Fields Ltd. – Ena Ena Flavored Wild Oregano – Gold         
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Basil – Best Flavored Olive Oil      
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Basil – Grand Prestige Gold         
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Blood Orange – Grand Prestige Gold     
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Dillemon – Prestige Gold          
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Garlic – Grand Prestige Gold         
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Greek Seasoning – Grand Prestige Gold     
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Lemon – Prestige Gold          
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Lemon Thyme – Grand Prestige Gold     
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Lemongrass Basil – Gold         
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Lime – Grand Prestige Gold         
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Pesto – Grand Prestige Gold         
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Rosemary – Gold         
• Laconiko Olive Oil – Laconiko Flavored Tuscan Herb – Prestige Gold          
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Enigma Gourmet Flavored with Apple, Cinnamon, Honey – Grand Prestige Gold         
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Enstagma Gourmet with Saffron – Gold     
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Enstagma Gourmet with Saffron & Rosemary – Gold         
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Enstagma Gourmet with Saffron & Sage – Prestige Gold          
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Gemstone Flavored Ginger, Lime, Basil – Gold   
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Majestic Flavored with Lemongrass & Tarragon – Gold         
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Masterpiece Flavored with Pimento – Grand Prestige Gold         
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Oleoastron Gourmet Flavored Fennel, Bay Leaves, Rosemary, Oregano – Prestige Gold
• Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms – Syllektikon Gourmet Flavored Orange, Lemon, Thyme – Prestige Gold

For more Olivinus awards, see also the lists of olive oils Selected by Children and those recognized for their Package Design.

Thanks to Laconiko for the photos from this year's harvest that were used with this article.

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