Croatian olive oil is among the very best in the world, and as Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of July, 2020, for the second year in a row, the Ol Istria Olive Oil Selection won a gold medal in the quality category at the prestigious world olive oil competition London International Olive Oil Competitions, and in the same category Ol Istria Picholine oil won silver.
Thus, the Croatian olive oil from Agrolaguna returned from international competitions once again with awards that prove its continuous top quality and recognition on the world's olive oil scene. Namely, London's IOOC is one of the largest and most respectable competitions in all of Europe, and in the competition this year, a total of 657 olive oils from as many as 25 countries were registered. In the quality category in which Ol Istria oils won medals, as many as 511 oils competed.
"We always emphasise that the success of Ol Istria olive oils lies in the controlled process from the beginning to the end of production as well as the knowledge that is built into the processing - from olive groves through fruit to oil production. Agrolaguna produces an average of about 150 tonnes of extra virgin olive oil every year, and the share of extra virgin olive oil under the Ol Istria brand, which consists of a blend of varieties, in the total production of Agrolaguna, stands at 98 percent. In addition to numerous awards, a great confirmation of the quality of Istrian olive oils is the fact that it was recognised by the Italian "bible" of extra virgin olive oils, Flos Olei, which declared Istria the best olive growing region in the world five times in a row. However, what is even more important than the fact that the quality of our oils is again recognised by certified oleologists in international juries, the high level of quality of our oils is also recognised by our consumers,'' said Vlado Condic Galinicic, the director of Agrolaguna.
Otherwise, Agrolaguna has the largest olive grove in all of Croatia, spread over a total of 220 hectares and five locations by the sea where 65,000 olive trees grow.
"In addition to the fact that the olives are grown in excellent locations, the basis for our top quality extra virgin olive oil are the hand-picked and undamaged fruits which are processed within 12 hours after having been harvested. The Ol Istria brand received a certificate of controlled designation of origin for its extra virgin olive oil, ZOI Istra, which implies the strict control of olives having an exclusively Istrian origin, only selected varieties, processed in a short time at a maximum temperature of 27 °C and stored in controlled temperature conditions. Ol Istria Selection is an extra virgin olive oil obtained by selecting several olive varieties. In addition, all varieties have a specific taste, aroma and intensity, so that the oils, like wine, can be combined with different dishes,'' explained Milan Budinski of Agrolaguna.
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