Magna Olea Beats the Weather, Wins at NYIOOC

Portuguese producer Magna Olea has won a Silver Award at the 2020 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition for its medium intensity blend.

Given the increasing number of high-quality olive oils from around the world, it gives us a sense of accomplishment to win this award!

Jerónimo Abreu e Lima, owner

In the 2019/20 season, Magna Olea produced 3,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil from a blend of olives using mechanical harvesting methods.

"Given the increasing number of high-quality olive oils from around the world, it gives us a sense of accomplishment to win this award," owner Jerónimo Abreu e Lima said. "We feel that we’re consistently producing excellence, rewarding the trust of all our customers and partners."

In spite of the successful showing at the competition, Abreu e Lima said every year comes with a new set of challenges for small producers. In 2019, though, the main difficulty was the weather.

"Given our family scale, each harvest is the most challenging moment of the year," he said. "2019 was another year of unusual weather that has conditioned the production, rhythm and timing of the harvest."

"With a limited production and a reduced harvest area due to the 2016 fire, regardless of profit, we do our best to honor the brand and producer's recognition," Abreu e Lima added.

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