Which is the best 2008 organic olive oil in the world, where does it come from, who produced the best blended and which extra virgin olive oil presented the best label and packaging?

The most important rewards in the world for organic olive growing – Biol Prize, Biolblended and BiolPack – will will be handed out in Modena on June 19 on occasion of the IFOAM international Congress during the Gala Dinner. During the evening, the winners of other territorial and thematic mentions will be awarded such as the prizes connected to BiolPhoto competition, BiolKids and BiolEthic.

Biol is one of the most important olive growing events in the world today, not only in the organic field. After the territorial pre-selections in Italy and abroad, the international jury tasted 310 finalist olive oils, which is a new record. The oils came from 19 countries: Albania, Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Chile, Croatia, Jordan, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, New Zeeland, Palestine, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and the USA.

Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Bari with the technical coordination of CIBI, the City of Andria presents the best organic extra-virgin olive oils from around the world in competition.

An international jury of professional tasters from different olive oil regions in the world tastes and judges the oil.The days of the competition take place across the Mediterranean aboard the Victoria Holiday cruiser in April and May, the cruiser embarks from Rome and stops in Sicily, Greece and Turkey.

Last year, more than 250 olive oils from 14 different countries were tasted. On board, the international olive oil exhibition, meetings, tasting sessions and cultural events take place for hundreds of people.

For the first time, an olive oil event will actively promote the Mediterranean, a strategic area for olive oil marketing worldwide, reports Premio Biol. Therefore, the olive oil competition will introduce the historical and cultural background of olive growing itself.

The 12th Biol award ceremony will take place in Bari on 12 May 2007. As usual, different prizes are awarded: “Biol Prize” to the best quality organic extra-virgin olive oil, bottled at the place of origin and ready for marketing; “Biolpack” to the best design and the most comprehensive labelling; “Biolblended”, a prize for the best oil blend, the finished product marketed with a trademark and other special awards. The program includes a photo contest about olive oil and olives as well. Biol Prize is sponsored by AgriBioMediterraneo and the Italian Agriculture Minister in cooperation with different local authorities like the region of Puglia, the Municipality of Andria, Aiab Puglia, ICEA and Puglia Natura. The full program of Biol is available at www.premiobiol.it.

From food tasting course to olive oil tasting, there will be much to appeal to the senses of the some 45,000 trade visitors from 21-24 February 2008. Newly introduced at BioFach 2008 is an award for the best organic olive oil. The special feature of this award is the tasters, as the visitors at the exhibition decide the winners.

The Olive Oil Award guarantees an objective assessment of the constantly growing number of olive oils presented at BioFach. Over 60 exhibitors from 10 countries were present with their oils in 2007, the large majority of them also at the Olive Oil Bar. Besides the classics like Italy, Spain and Greece, there were also European “exotics” like Cyprus and Albania. The meanwhile established overseas countries of Chile and Australia were joined by Saudi Arabia and Palestine, the first producers from the Arab region.

According to a survey by the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), worldwide olive oil production from conventional and organic cultivation in 2006/2007 was 2.86 million tonnes, with 2.14 million tonnes of olive oil produced in the EU in this period. The leader is Spain with 1.1 million tonnes ahead of Italy with 0.6 and Greece with some 0.4.

In Spain, approximately 8.5 million kilograms of organic olive oil were put on the market in 2007. This quantity made olive oil the most important product regarding economic value and trade volume generated in the organic sector. According to the data of the Andalusian Committee for Organic Agriculture (CAAE), sales of this product increased by 39% in 2007.

Organic olive oil was exported to 31 countries, mainly to France, followed by Italy, which has significantly increased its imports to 1.1 million kilograms, and to the United States (0.9 million kilograms). For the first time in 2007, Greece also started buying organic olive oil from Spain, with a volume of over 160,000 kilograms. The domestic market has grown to reach over 2.3 million kilograms. With about one million hectares, the olive oil sector involves more than 20,000 operators active in production, processing and marketing.