Flos Olei, presented the 2023 edition

by Editorial Staff 12/07/22 |

The 14th edition of the only world guide dedicated to extra virgin olive oil, edited by Marco Oreggia and Laura Marinelli, has been presented.

The volume, this year produced in three dual-language versions (Italian-English, Italian-Chinese and, an important new entry, Italian-Spanish), features the world's 500 best olive farms from as many as 56 countries. And this year's new entry is Eritrea, where olive growing is still in an embryonic state but could develop if the recent experiments fielded bring the hoped-for results. It is precisely this multiplicity of countries represented in the guide that confirms Flos Olei's mission: that of broadening its view of the world olive-growing panorama, which is proving to be increasingly rich in new players and territories capable of offering high quality. "We are extremely proud," says Marco Oreggia, publisher of the Flos Olei guide, "to continue to represent a point of reference for producers all over the world. And even more so, also thanks to the effort of proposing Flos Olei in Spanish for the first time, to be an intermediary between those who produce and those who distribute and consume. We were the first to expand the boundaries of extra virgin, while not forgetting the pivotal role that Italy and Spain continue to play."

Indeed, it is Italian and Spanish producers who excel again this year in the Flos Olei guide. The list of the Hall of Fame's eight 100/100 oils remains unchanged: five Italian companies represented by Azienda Agricola Comincioli (Lombardy), Frantoio Bonamini (Veneto), Frantoio Franci (Tuscany), Azienda Agraria Viola (Umbria) and Americo Quattrociocchi (Lazio), and three Iberian ones with Casas de Hualdo (Castilla-La Mancha), Castillo de Canena and Aceites Finca la Torre (Andalucía) as the protagonists. Italy was then awarded nine of the twenty The Best awards, including the highly coveted Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil of the Year, which saw Frantoio Giovanni Batta (Umbria) triumph. The other eleven awards were distributed as follows: five to Spain and one each to France, Croatia, Greece, South Africa, Brazil and Chile. Precisely one Croatian company was awarded the prestigious Company of the Year: it is the Mate company, which brings its best product, the Istrian Timbro Istriano, to the Flos Olei 2023 guide. While the Green Company is French: La Magnanerie, crowned for its choices marked by environmental sustainability. Finally, there are four Special Awards, for those who do not produce oil, but promote and disseminate it. To Pizzeria Salvo (Italy) goes the Restaurant of the Year award; to Hippie House (Denmark) that of Importer of the Year; to Cécile Le Gaillard (France) the Journalist of the Year award. To close, the Community of Sant'Egidio (Italy) is awarded the Cristina Tiliacos Special Prize, a dedication that underscores the connotation of peace and inclusion deeply connected with such a precious plant and fruit.

"A ranking that counts several confirmations but also interesting novelties," conclude editors Marco Oreggia and Laura Marinelli, "demonstrating the dynamism of the entire sector. For us at Flos Olei, it is essential to keep up with the times, often anticipating trends and pointing the way to newcomers to the sector. Increasingly, we want to provide an opportunity for discussion and dialogue among stakeholders in the industry worldwide, and all this would not be possible without our team of more than one hundred collaborators, including fifty international professionals with whom we maintain constant relations and as many as four interpreter-translators who support us for the three bilingual versions. It is thanks to the work we all do, from producers to disseminators, that the olive sector is gaining more and more notoriety, but there is still a long way to go. We are aiming, for the future, for further political awareness of our world, particularly with regard to the still too inadequate legislation governing it and the need for stronger anti-fraud regulations."

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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