Olive Oil Shows

Enrolments are open for the 1st Southern Hemisphere Olive Oil Championship, the ANZSA Awards 2012. Held in Australia in conjunction with the 7th ARMONIA International Olive Oil Competition, the ANZSA competition is open to all olive growers, olive oil producers, processors and bottlers in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. ARMONIA is the only competition in the world that brings producer, chef and consumer together, with awarded olive oils showcased in a chain of “Extra Virgin Olive Oil Restaurants” in Sydney, Singapore and at Crave Sydney International Food Festival. Winners will also be entered into the international final of the ARMONIA-ALMA Trophy and the selection process for the “World’s 100 Most Outstanding Extra Virgin Olive Oils”. Closing date for applications and oil samples is 7 September, 2012. Download rules and application forms https://www.oliveoilagency.org/2012-03-07-18-48-22/southern-hemisphere-olive-oil-championship or go to www.oliveoilagency.org for more information.

As part of its ongoing support of the industry, Australian and New Zealand Olivegrower & Processor and Friday Olive Extracts publisher Ryan Media has announced it will sponsor one of major awards in the ANZSA competition, the Olive Oil Processors Award. Recognising excellence in processing, the award aims to highlight the importance of the processing stage in the production of exceptional quality EVOOs. Editor Gerri Nelligan has also been appointed to the judging panel for the ANZSA Packaging Award.

Last weekend was an exhausting one for the 14 judges of the 2012 Perth Royal EVOO Competition, who spent two days judging the 127 oils entered in this year’s competition. So now comes the wait for the announcement of the winners – which will, of course, be made at the award presentation dinner on Saturday, 22 September at the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Seats are still available, at $100 for members and $120 for non-members (not including drinks). As the WA Olive Council’s main social activity of the year, the dinner is a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and other growers and support the entrants in their quest for “gold”. For bookings contact executive officer Pauline North at [email protected] or ph: (08) 9381 7162.

Entries for the 2012 NZ EVOO Awards opened on 13 August and close on 10 September. Late entries will not be accepted, so hop to it! Full details and entry forms are available on the Olives NZ website https://www.olivesnz.org.nz/members-news/awards/awards-2012/.

Entries are now open for the 2012 New Zealand Gourmet Oil Competition, a celebration of the quality and variety of culinary oils available for retail sale in New Zealand. Run by the Canterbury A&P Association in conjunction with the Canterbury A&P Show, the competition is open to New Zealand-produced oils, with classes for EVOO (Light, Medium and Intense), Walnut Oil, Hazelnut Oil, Avocado Oil, and Infused Olive Oil. Entries are judged by a panel of independent food industry experts, competing for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, Best in Class for each section and ultimately Best in Show. Entries close 5pm Thursday, 25 October, with winners announced on 31 October. Winning oils will be on display in the Food & Wine NZ Pavilion at the 150th Canterbury A&P Show, 14-16 November at Canterbury Agricultural Park in Christchurch. Entries https://www.theshow.co.nz/2012-show/feature-competitions/olive-oil/.

A Northland olive oil producer has picked up two medals at an international olive oil competition in California. Mangonui olive oil co-operative Ocean View Olive Estate won two silver awards at the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You can read more about all of New Zealand and Australian producers’ fantastic achievements in LA in the October edition of Olivegrower & Processor, hitting letterboxes in September.

Entries are now open for the Olives SA & RAS Olive Oil and Table Olive Competition. Gold, Silver and Bronze Certificates will be presented across a range of six olive oil classes (including one for schools) and four table olive classes, along with Best of Show awards for both oils and table olives and three special oil awards – Top Gold for small producers, Best SA oil and the Processor Award. Judging will take place on 29 September, with the awards presentation dinner at a date TBA. Entries close strictly at 5pm on Friday, 24 August. Enquires to Amanda on (08) 8210 5211 or [email protected], or download the entry form https://www.theshow.com.au/showground/royal-adelaide-show/show-entries-results/schedules.jsp.