A Record 552 Awards at the 2019 Competition
A world competition once handed out a record number of prizes across two dozen countries — the top of the table familiar, but the edges telling the real story, as South American producers kept setting fresh national records. For a Northern shopper, that’s a quiet gift.
The world’s largest olive-oil competition once revealed its winners after judging hundreds of entries from around two dozen countries, awarding a record number of prizes. The classic producers led on volume, as they always do — but the news, as ever, was at the edges of the leaderboard, where Chilean and other South American oils kept setting fresh national records. Each year the top reads the same and the edges change; the edges are the story.
Why the leaderboard’s edges matter most
The very top of any olive-oil competition is fairly stable: the big, established producing countries enter the most oils and win the most medals, simply by weight of numbers. That’s not where the interesting change is. The change is at the margins — a country winning its first gold, a region breaking through, a new estate arriving. Read past the headline totals and you’re watching the map of world-class olive oil redraw itself in slow motion, one new national record at a time.
The Southern Hemisphere gift
Here’s the practical angle a Northern shopper should grab. Chile, Argentina, Australia and South Africa harvest in their autumn — which is the Northern Hemisphere’s spring. So a Southern-Hemisphere oil pressed around April and May reaches you genuinely fresh in the Northern summer, at the very moment last year’s Spanish or Italian oil is getting tired. Freshness is the single thing that matters most in olive oil, and the seasons hand you a way to have it in the off-months.
How to use the seasonal trick
The move is simple once you see it. In Northern autumn and winter, buy fresh Northern-Hemisphere oil — new-harvest Spanish, Italian, Greek, Californian. In Northern late spring and summer, switch to fresh Southern-Hemisphere oil — Chilean, Argentine, Australian, South African — while the Northern stuff ages. A competition list is a fine place to find the good Southern producers; pair a medal with a harvest date and you can eat fresh, well-made oil all year round instead of half of it.
| Time of year (Northern) | Buy oil from | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn–winter | Northern Hemisphere new harvest | Spain, Italy, Greece, California just pressed |
| Late spring–summer | Southern Hemisphere new harvest | Chile, Argentina, Australia, South Africa just pressed |
| Any time | Whoever pressed most recently | Freshness beats fame in olive oil |
The takeaway
- The edges of the leaderboard, not the top, are where the real change happens.
- South American and other new origins keep winning gold and setting records.
- Southern-Hemisphere oils are freshest in the Northern summer — use them off-season.
- Rotate your oil by hemisphere and harvest date to eat fresh all year.
The 2019 record awards: common questions
Why do the same countries always top the list?
The big established producers enter the most oils, so they win the most medals by sheer numbers. The interesting change is at the edges, where newer origins break through.
Why are South American wins significant?
They show world-class oil coming from newer origins, and they’re practically useful too — Southern-Hemisphere oils are freshest just when Northern ones are ageing.
When is Southern-Hemisphere oil freshest for me?
If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, around your late spring and summer — those oils are harvested in the Southern autumn, roughly April and May.
Why does freshness matter so much?
Olive oil is a fresh product that fades with time and light. A recently harvested oil almost always beats an older one, whatever the flag on the label.
How do I use a competition list to buy well?
Use it to find good producers, including Southern-Hemisphere ones, then pair any medal with a recent harvest date before buying.
Each year’s leaderboard reads the same at the top and changes at the edges — and the edges are the story. Chilean and Argentine oils, harvested in our spring, are now winning gold. For a Northern shopper that’s a gift: a fresh Southern-Hemisphere oil in summer beats a year-old Spanish one. Learn to rotate your oil by hemisphere and you’ll eat fresh, well-made extra virgin all year instead of drizzling tired oil for half of it.
Drawn from May 2019 reporting on the world olive oil competition’s record awards.