On July 12, the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture held a reception for award-winning olive oil producers in the country’s capital to congratulate them on their outstanding success at the 2021 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition in New York. “I am not exaggerating when I say that this is a historic success of our olive growers,” said Marija Vuckovic, Minister of Agriculture.
Marija Vučković and Zdravko Tušek, State Secretary, also presented the draft strategic plan of the country for the new Common Agricultural Policy to the winning producers. Croatian producers together won a record 67 gold awards and 20 silver awards at this year’s NYIOOC edition, including 24 awards for organic extra virgin olive oils.
Among the countries that reported at least 20 applications, Croatian producers had the highest success rate – 83 percent. “I am not exaggerating when I say that this is a historic success of our olive growers, which has become the crown of all previous efforts of Croatian
olive oil producers who insist on the high quality of the final product,” said Vuckovic. “I sincerely congratulate them on their success and on the promotion of Croatian olive growing in the world,” she added. “According to the number of awards, Croatian olive growers are at the very top, but if we take into account the size of production and the ratio of sent awards and samples, I am deeply convinced that we are the best.”
These awards help confirm Croatian quality, along with protected production regions. Croatia currently has five olive oils with the status of protected designations of origin: Cres, Istria, Korcula, Krk and Solta. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 40,278 hectoliters of olive oil were produced in 2020, which is a drop of 9.5 percent compared to 2019, but 6.9 percent above the five-year average – 38,117 hectoliters.