VERONA:THE WORLD CAPITAL FOR QUALITY OLIVE OIL
Now open for entries: samples must be delivered by 13 February
Verona, 4 January 2023 A partnership between Competitions in praise of extra virgin olive oil. While retaining their individuality, as of this year Sol d'Oro - promoted by Veronafiere and for twenty-one years the world's best known international competition with blind tastings - and Aipo d'Argento - a competition with a more markedly local area vocation going back twenty years - will join forces to hold Sol d'Oro Northern Hemisphere - XXI International extra virgin olive oil competition scheduled 20-26 February at Veronafiere.
Sol d’Oro: Conceived with the aim of adding value to the finest extra virgin olive oils, it combines blind tastings with assessments by international panellists and has expanded abroad since its debut, to the extent so that it is now split into Northern and Southern Hemisphere editions. The Competition covers 6 categories: Extra Virgin (Delicate Fruity, Medium Fruity, Intense Fruity), Single Variety, Organic and PDO. The competition is open to Italian and international extra virgin olive oils produced and marketed by companies and mills with proven output of a minimum quantity of 1,500 litres for each oil entered for the contest. The 'Absolute Beginners' category is specifically dedicated to producers of extra virgin olive oil in smaller quantities (500 to 1,499 litres). Olive oils winning medals and those earning Special Mentions are entitled to include the wording "Sol d'Oro Northern Hemisphere 2023 International Competition" on their labels with different colours and annotations depending on the prize awarded (Sol d'Oro - Sol d'Argento - Sol di Bronzo - Special Mention).
Aipo d’Argento: Organized by the Inter-Regional Association of Olive Oil Producers, this award exemplifies the finest Italian olive oil supply chain while also stimulating discussion between Italian and Mediterranean companies. These olive oils are assessed by a panel specializing in the certification of quality olive oils recognized by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. Olive oil producers taking part in the competition, inasmuch, can entrust their products to analysis by a laboratory recognized by the IOC (International Olive Council) for objective verification of sensory characteristics.
Objectives of the partnership. The partnership between Sol d'Oro and Aipo d'Argento seeks to create even more added value for producers keen to enter the 21st Veronafiere International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. Companies entering the 20th Aipo d'Argento International Olive Oil Competition will be automatically included in the Sol d'Oro Northern Hemisphere 2023 as well. This means they will benefit from sensory assessments based on blind tastings by the international panel and the chemical-sensory evaluation certified by the Association's laboratory. Access to the second stage of the competition will depend on this result: only flawless extra virgin olive oils will be admitted. Panellists, joined by other colleagues even from abroad, will then be able to focus exclusively on sensory assessments to ensure careful selection of award-winning products.
The winners will then be presented through dedicated tastings in the EVO OIL Tasting Area during Sol&Agrifood (2–5 April 2023). They will also be included in "The Winners Guide" targeting buyers and Veronafiere delegates for promotion at international events.
"This shared objective aims to promote extra virgin olive oil on domestic and international markets with a focus on the horeca channel, delicatessen shops and the quality corners of large-scale retail distribution," said Maurizio Danese, Managing Director of Veronafiere. "We are pooling all the excellence of our local area to provide an effective tool for the entire quality olive oil sector in Italy and abroad. All in all, this means Verona to all intents and purposes becomes the international landmark for this extraordinary product and its enormous potential for finding new market outlets, in Northern Europe and Asia, as well as North and South America. These are geo-economic areas where Veronafiere has already operated for some considerable time, organizing exhibitions and roadshows which also highlight extra virgin olive oil to international buyers in addition to those attending Sol&Agrifood every year - the quality agro-food exhibition scheduled alongside Vinitaly and Enolitech."
"This agreement involves two organizers - Aipo and Veronafiere - which have always worked in the best interests of the supply chain. The objective is to support olive growers and oil mills to upgrade the quality of their products, meet the needs of already acquired markets and build their loyalty, while also penetrating into new ones. In this context, Aipo's agronomic consultancy is an ideal opportunity for companies taking part to obtain chemical-sensory analysis sheets and thereby be able to evaluate possibilities for continuous product improvement," said Albino Pezzini, President of Aipo.
"This cooperation project," said Marino Giorgetti, Sol d'Oro Panel Leader, "also targets companies which, on the one hand, are faced by a proliferation of olive oil competitions while, on the other, are unaware of how these competitions are organised and their impact in terms of sales promotion on the market. Today, these two historic competitions, widely acknowledged for their serious selection procedures and the countless promotional activities they implement for award-winning olive oils, team up to offer companies even greater opportunities, in terms of validating the quality of their products as well as promoting them on domestic and international markets."
The next Sol d'Oro Competition is scheduled 20-26 February 2023. The competition is open for entries until 13 February through the website https://www.solagrifood.com/sol-d-oro. The competition regulations can be downloaded by clicking on this link.
Veronafiere Press Service
Tel.: + 39.045.8298.427-242
E-mail: pressoffice@veronafiere.it Web: https://www.solagrifood.com
