Istria is the best olive growing region in the world for the eighth year in a row

In the fifteenth edition of the prestigious guide Olei Flos, known as bible for extra virgin oils in the world, Istria has once again reached the top and is the best in the world in terms of the number of involved olive groves.

Traditionally, a considerable number of olive oils from Croatia have been included, 71 of which to be exact 69 from Istria (13 more than last year when there were 56), which is of particular importance, since the publication includes oils from all over the world - 56 olive-growing nations from five continents. Puglia is second with 55 olive oils, Tuscany is third with 51.

This is how Istrian olive growers found themselves in society Top 500 with a total share of as much as 13 percent. At the same time, it is worth noting that a large number achieved even better results than last year, which is proof of significant work on improving quality and applying the latest scientific and technological achievements in olive growing.

Olei Flos, a kind of atlas of world olive growing, signed by a well-known journalist and food and wine critic Marco Oreggia in cooperation with Laura Marinelli, a journalist specializing in the field of enogastronomy, is of international character, and is published through three editions: Italian-English, Italian-Chinese and Italian-Spanish.

The authors of the guide on Croatia point out that the current overview of olive growing here shows a great innovative impulse from the point of view of cultivation and production, and a decisive qualitative growth of the final product.

On the other hand, olive growing flourishes, given the favorable climate and excellent soil composition, and traditionally it is spread along the coast. The current trend, especially with the entry into the European Union, is a trend of growth.

In the last decade, the average production of EDMU has stabilized at around 4 thousand tons; in the period 2022-2023. there was an increase in the quantity by 4400 tons. The consumption of EDMU in the country is 8 thousand tons, and the consumption per inhabitant is quite low - 1,8 kg per year.

It is therefore not surprising that 69 olive growers from Istria produced such high-quality extra virgin olive oil that it deserves a prestigious award, i.e. inclusion in the last, fifteenth edition of Flos Oleia.

Hall of Fame

In Flos Olei, two TOP classes stand out in particular: Hall of Fame includes a list of companies that have reached such a level of excellence that they deserve career recognition with the highest score of 100/100.

In the edition for 2024, we are talking about a total of nine estates - among which for the first time in history there was one from Croatia - Oil miller Mate Aleksandra Vekić from Savudrija (and three Spanish and five Italian).

The Best

Another TOP category is The Best which brings a list of properties, 17 of them this year, which are awarded quality awards in different categories. The awarding of the award does not depend so much on the organoleptic values ​​of the presented olive oils, but on the qualitative stability of each producer over the years and the added value it brings to the area where it is located.

It is known that, after a few months of shelf life, extra virgin olive oil gradually begins to lose its organoleptic properties, so through this publication, they do not want to strictly tie awards to the feats of a single oil, but to award various titles to producers, such as, for example: "Estate of the Year", " Emerging Estate", "Green Company", "Organic Production", "Ecological Sustainability", "Importer of the Year", "Biological Production" and the like.

Last year, the oil mill of MATA Aleksandra Vekić from Savudrija was declared "Property of the Year", while in 2022, Franko Červar from Novigrad won The Best award as the best in the category of monovarietal oil of medium fruitiness.

"It is truly an exceptional feeling to be first for the eighth time in a row. For Istria, this represents a constantly rising development continuity and at the highest international competitive level. Since its first entry in this edition, in 2010, Istria immediately assumed an important role and positioned itself among The fact that Istria has 69 registered olive groves says enough about how it looks this year, and it is important to point out that up to a thousand samples from all over the world arrive for evaluation, that a professional panel of certified tasters evaluates, in the organoleptic sense, all the received samples and chooses the best 500 in the world. In addition, Istria has its own 500, which is really impressive. Although we have known this for many years, I think it is extremely important to be aware of the fact that in no discipline, in any economic branch , sports or any other important competition or simply in places where reputation is gained and confirmed, we do not have such success as Istrian extra virgin olive oil. We are very proud of that fact, but it seems that a lot of work still needs to be done, first of all in our country, that internal marketing and maturing knowledge of our importance is needed so that this primacy gets its full and true value, that we become aware of it first in Croatia and that all those who promote Croatian gastronomy proudly point it out. Among others, the oil mill of Mate Aleksandra Vekić won the highest score of 69, which once again proves that Istria has a world-class product.", he concluded Denis Ivosevic, director of the Tourist Board of Istria County.

FLOS OLEI 2024.

In addition to production data, each country is presented in the guide with an appropriate introduction and a historical and cultural overview. Regarding the properties whose oils were awarded, 500 of them, their best product, which was evaluated by the official committee of expert tasters, was described.

In addition to the listed estates, an additional 275 extra virgin olive oils belonging to the listed estates, although not selected, are indicated, thus finally rounding out the reviews of a total of 775 samples.

It is known that the Mediterranean is the heart of olive production, but in addition to the nations from that area, the quality reaches more distant places that year after year become recognizable on the international market, namely Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand .

At the same time, there are Mediterranean countries that are recording strong growth in high-class olive growing, such as Croatia, France, Slovenia and Morocco.

In short, the view of the world is extremely broad. However, numerous unresolved problems remain, above all the legislation, which is still inadequate and insufficient both in Europe and in the world.

Read more about the Flos Olei guide: www.flosolei.com

LIST OF CLASSIFIED OLIVE GROWERS ISTRIA IN FLOS OLEI 2024. 

Source and photo: Tourist Board of Istrian County