Gold Ridge Organic Farms Wins 4 at NYIOOC

The American producer Gold Ridge Organic Farms has won four Gold Awards at the 2020 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

It feels amazing to have the year's hard work recognized in the bottle by these esteemed judges. It inspires us to continue to produce high-quality olive oils by hand despite all of the challenges that exist for small farms.

Brooke Hazen, owner

The California-based company took home Gold for four of its blended extra virgin olive oils: Tuscan Blend, an organic medium; Minerva Blend, an organic medium; Arbequina Blend, an organic delicate; and Picholine Blend, an organic medium.

"We feel very grateful to have all four of our organic olive oils from Northern California receive Gold Awards this year," owner Brooke Hazen said. "It feels amazing to have the year's hard work recognized in the bottle by these esteemed judges. It inspires us to continue to produce high-quality olive oils by hand despite all of the challenges that exist for small farms."

In the 2019/20 season, Gold Ridge Organic Farms produced 10,000 liters of blended extra virgin olive oil using traditional methods.

In spite of having his most successful year yet at the competition, Hazen said that 2019 was marked with various challenges.

"We had a high-yield harvest in our region of Northern California," he said. "It was challenging to be so busy and to juggle our grower responsibilities and our role as a custom milling facility."

"But it was very satisfying to have our production numbers up 25 percent from 2018," Hazen added. "All in all, a great harvest."

The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, held each spring in New York, is the world's largest and most prestigious olive oil contest and its annual listing of award winners is considered the authoritative guide to the year’s best extra virgin olive oils.

The complete list of winners can be viewed on the Official Index of the World's Best Olive Oils