Fuenquesada Wins Gold Award for Picual

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

The Gold Award provides us with the conviction that our quality standards are the right ones to produce a great extra virgin olive oil.

Felix Gonzalez Quesada, CEO

Located in Andalusia, the company earned a Gold Award for a medium-intensity Picual. The brand previously earned Gold Awards in 2020 and 2021.

"Last year's harvest (2021/22), we made a hard decision; not to bottle our olive oil due to the lack of the adequate quality we want to share with our family of customers," chief executive Felix Gonzalez Quesada said.

"This harvest (2022/23) has been excellent," he added. "The Gold Award provides us with the conviction that our quality standards are the right ones to produce a great extra virgin olive oil."

Like many producers in Andalusia, Gonzalez Quesada said drought was one of his biggest challenges this season.

"The lack of rain was a challenge," he said. "Combining tradition and innovation, integrating modern irrigation and fertigation, together with traditional techniques, allowed us to maximize the use of the scarce resources."

"Early harvesting implies high day temperatures (30º C)," Gonzalez Quesada added. "Thus, the harvest was carried out at night to prevent negative impact on the fruit."

Held each spring in New York, the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition 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.