140-Member Eleonas Cooperative Celebrate NYIOOC Gold

Greek producer Eleonas has won an award at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's largest olive oil quality contest.

We're feeling very proud to receive a Gold Award at the NYIOOC and really happy for our efforts to be recognized.

Nikolaos Athanasopoulos, CEO

The 140-member cooperative in Kalamata on the Peloponnese peninsula earned a Gold Award for its Vatsiko brand, a medium Koroneiki.

"We're feeling very proud to receive a Gold Award at the NYIOOC and really happy for our efforts to be recognized," chief executive Nikolaos Athanasopoulos said.

In the 2022/23 crop year, the cooperative produced 700 tons of olive oil, overcoming a range of challenges from climatic to economic.

"Climate change, rising production costs and the scarcity of human resources in rural areas were our main challenges," Athanasopoulos confirmed.

The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition held each spring in New York, is the world's most prestigious olive oil contest. Its annual listing of award winners is considered the authoritative guide to the year’s best extra virgin olive oils.

The complete list of winners can be viewed in the Official Guide to the World's Best Olive Oils.