Monini Wins 5 Gold Awards at World Competition

Italian producer Monini has won five Gold Awards at the 2021 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's most prestigious olive oil quality contest.

We are proud of the results achieved, which repay us for the work and care we put into every bottle of all our products. We are happy to have overcome the difficulties of this harvest.

Zefferino Francesco Monini, owner

In the 2020/21 crop year, the company produced 35 million liters of organic extra virgin olive oil in Basilicata, Puglia and Umbria from Frantoio, Coratina, Nocellara, Ogliarola Garganica and Ogliarola olives using modern harvesting methods.

"We are proud of the results achieved, which repay us for the work and care we put into every bottle of all our products," owner Zefferino Francesco Monini said. "We are happy to have overcome the difficulties of this harvest."

Monini earned three Gold Awards for monovarietals: an organic medium Frantoio, an organic robust Coratina and an organic medium Nocellara. He also earned two more for Monini Bios, an organic medium blend, and GranFruttato, a robust blend.

Previously, Monini earned two Gold Awards and a Silver Award at the 2018 NYIOOC.

"Monini continues on its winning ways with some of our most precious oils," distributor Marco Petrini said. "The Monocultivar line and the Selezione Italiana items are very clear examples that you can be a large producer and still be dedicated to quality by selecting only the best raw materials for your products."

Petrini added that 2020 had been a tough year across the Mediterranean basin, with many countries recording lower-than-expected harvests. Still, he emphasized that quality had largely been unaffected.

"Higher production costs during the pandemic contributed to higher prices for producers," he said. "But the quality was good for production throughout the Mediterranean basin, with peaks in some regions in Italy as well as parts of Greece and Spain."

The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, held each spring in New York, 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 on the Official Index of the World's Best Olive Oils.