Ixir Factory Triumphs with Picholine at 2023 NYIOOC

Ixir Factory from Morocco has won its second award in three years at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

We feel very honored and proud to be the first Moroccan extra virgin olive oil to win at the 2023 NYIOOC. This is really an amazing acknowledgment that we hope will help us enter the North American market.

Dakir Berrada, owner

The North African producer earned a Gold Award for its Noor Fès brand, a medium Picholine, which previously earned a Gold Award in 2021.

"We feel very honored and proud to be the first Moroccan extra virgin olive oil to win at the 2023 NYIOOC," owner Dakir Berrada said. "It proves that we can produce one of the best quality oils worldwide, competing with Italian, Spanish and Greek oils."

"This is really an amazing acknowledgment that we hope will help us enter the North American market," he added.

In the 2022/23 crop year, Ixir Factory produced 200 tons of extra virgin olive oil using traditional methods. However, the impacts of climate change meant the total was significantly lower than what Berrada expected.

"A quite severe drought and intense heat waves led to an almost 20-percent production drop compared to what we would have expected for the season," he said.

Held each spring in New York, the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition is the world's largest and 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.