Slideshow
Savantes into the Future
Welcome 2021 - Good-bye 2020
What a year that was, testing resilience throughout the world with restrictions imposed on every facet of our lives.
We hope you, your families and businesses have been relatively unaffected and are in good health.
We have been affected by the impact of lockdown in Australia with borders closed to international travel. The projected Savantes events have been stopped indefinitely, as we observe have many activities of our Savantes, Associates and participants. As the pandemic ebbs we wish you all success in returning your enterprises to pre-pandemic levels and the olive oil industry returning to some semblance of order.
No doubt the time of reflection imposed on you over the past 9 months has resulted in some changes in the way you will conduct business in the post-Covid era. At Savantes we have resolved to resume our overseas activities as soon Australia allows international travel which we expect will be around September 2021 when vaccination is widespread. We will concentrate our effort on Team Tasting Championships and are in discussions to hold an Iberian Championship in Portugal in late 2021 or early 2022, followed by the Second World Championship soon afterwards.
Team from Navarre wins first World Extra Virgin Olive Oil Team Tasting Championship
The first World Champion Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tasting Team is Los Navarros from Spain. The team comprised Roberto Gracia Sagasti, Carlos Gracia Sagasti and Mario Gomara Alfaro – all producers and taste panellists. Second was the Greek LET team of Lykourgos Polychronopoulos, Efstathia Zontanou and Takis Dimitrakopoulos. Lykourgos also became the fifth Savante and the first from Greece. The Greek JNP team were third and tied for fourth were the Team de Nimes from France and Los Narizones from Spain.
The championship was held in Priego de Cordoba, Spain, in Association with the Association for Quality Control of the Oils of the Region of Priego de Cordoba ((ASCCAL).
Eight competitors achieved Associate Savantes for the first time. The new Associates are Roberto Gracia Sagasti, Carlos Gracia Sagasti, Mario Gomara Alfaro, Isabel Calvache Gisberti, Covadonga Perez Silva from Spain, Julie Carou and Helene Lasserre from France and John Angelis from Greece.
Read more: Team from Navarre wins first World Extra Virgin Olive Oil Team Tasting Championship
Inaugural World Cup for Tasting Teams
The inaugural World Cup for Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tasting Teams will be held in Priego de Cordoba, Spain on 4th and 5th October, 2019.
The Championship for tasting teams will be the culmination of 5 years of development of National Tasting Team Championships in producing and consuming countries. Championships are currently held in USA, Spain, France, South Africa and Greece. Winning teams from theses countries will be competing in the World Cup. They will be joined by invited teams from other countries coordinated by tasters involved in the International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes Network.
The World Cup will be convened by Savantes and co-hosted with the Association for Quality Control of the Oils of the Region of Priego de Cordoba (ASCCAL).
A Visit to Hacienda Guzmán, Seville, Spain
Simon Field, August 2017
One of the unexpected benefits of participating in a Savantes tasting is the occasional opportunity to experience something beyond evaluating olive oil. Such an opportunity arose when attendees at the Seville programme were invited to visit the Juan Ramón Guillén Foundation museum on the outskirts of the city. Our host was Juan González of Hacienda Guzmán, who participated in the Seville programme.
The Foundation was founded in 2011 with the purpose of bringing the rural sector closer to the public with special emphasis on the olive sector. The centrepiece is the Hacienda Guzmán from which the brand of quality extra virgin olive oils takes its name. Six centuries ago, Hernando, the son of Christopher Columbus, produced olive oil on the estate and exported it to America.
Hacienda Guzmán
The stately house is the home to the olive oil museum with a massive beam olive oil press and many of
Spain Wins Gold Medal Tally at Los Angeles Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show
The Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition provides an opportunity to compare the products entered from the major producing countries and the USA. The Northern Hemisphere segment has just been completed with 516 entries.
The comparative performance of olive oils from countries with over 20 entries shows that Spain outperformed all other countries with 31% of the entries being awarded gold medals.
Read more: Spain Wins Gold Medal Tally at Los Angeles Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show
Does IOC Overstate Australian Olive Oil Consumption?
Reliable data on Australian production and consumption is difficult to obtain. The International Olive Council (IOC) publishes international tables on production, consumption, exports and imports. Analysis of this data alongside that provided by the Australian Olive Association and Australia’s largest producer, Boundary Bend Limited, suggests that the IOC figures overstate Australian consumption of olive oil by up to 30% in some years.
The Australian data in Table 1 extrapolated from the Boundary Bend 2013 Annual Report. The analysis shows that the IOC overstates Australian production with the result that Australian consumption is lower than generally stated by the IOC.
The Australian Olive Association in its industry snapshot for 2012 states ‘Australian apparent consumption of olive oil for the period 2005 to 2012 increased by 16% to 51,7108 tonnes’, clearly a gross overstatement by approximately 37%.
Read more: Does IOC Overstate Australian Olive Oil Consumption?