Porterville Olives Beat Blackouts, Win 3 Awards at NYIOOC

South African producer Porterville Olives has won three awards at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

We credit our production, harvesting and milling teams, who have received Gold Awards consistently at the NYIOOC, our premier event.

Willie Duminy, co-owner

The family-owned company earned two Gold Awards for its Andante Intenso brand, a medium-intensity Nocellara del Belice, and Andante Forte brand, a medium Favolosa. Porterville Olives also earned a Silver Award for its Andante Mezzo brand, a delicate blend.

"We credit our production, harvesting and milling teams, who have received Gold Awards consistently at the NYIOOC, our premier event," co-owner Willie Duminy said.

"Jan Hendrik Basson has become a leading olive and olive oil producer," he added. "We were inspired to set high standards by Giorgio Mori and Guido Testi of Mori-TEM (Oliomio) and Linda and Carlo Costa in South Africa."

Since 2016, the company has earned 15 awards for its three oils crafted with Italian cultivars. This year's haul comes despite a lower yield than usual, with the company producing 25,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil.

"Overall, there was a smaller crop, but unevenly spread; some trees bore very little, others were abundant," Duminy said. "It was a year of extremes. Timing and logistics were complicated by interrupted electricity supply (load shedding)."

"When the plant can’t run, harvesting is slowed down to avoid excessive harvest to milling time, based on cooling and time-temperature curves," he added.

Held each spring in New York, the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition is the world's largest and most prestigious olive oil contest. 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 in the Official Guide to the World's Best Olive Oils.