Laconian Legacy Earns Third Straight NYIOOC Award

Laconian Legacy from Greece has won a third-straight award at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's most prestigious olive oil quality contest.

The consistent awards are clear proof of our hard work and dedication to quality as our main priority despite the difficulties of each year.

Metaxia Retzeka, owner

The Lakonia-based producer, located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula, earned a Silver Award for its organic medium Athinolia. The brand previously earned Gold Awards in 2021 and 2022.

"Winning at the NYIOOC for the third consecutive year confirms the superiority of our olive oil," owner Metaxia Retzeka said. "The consistent awards are clear proof of our hard work and dedication to quality as our main priority despite the difficulties of each year."

"As the awards we win from the NYIOOC increase, we feel an even greater responsibility to our consumers to continue and improve on this path of higher quality," she added.

Like many of her compatriots, Retzeka enjoyed a fruitful harvest but still faced plenty of challenges to produce high-quality extra virgin olive oil.

"The production in Peloponnese was quite satisfactory due to good weather and rainfalls during winter," she said. "High temperatures during harvest time, along with the rainfalls in this period, increased the humidity in olive groves; thus, there was a real problem with the olive fruit fly. Scarcity of workers affected the optimum period of harvesting."

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.