Ante Vulin Wins Gold Award for ‘Antino’ Oblica

Croatian producer OPG Obitelj Ante Vulin has won a Gold Award at the 2022 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's most prestigious olive oil quality contest.

This is a confirmation of our dedicated, passionate and great work and care for the sacred olive tree and its oil. For us, this is confirmation of the quality of our product and our way of working.

Ante Vulin, owner

Situated near the town of Pakoštana in Dalmatia, the producer earned the award for its Antino brand, a medium Oblica.

"With this Gold Award, we feel proud and satisfied," owner Ante Vulic said. "This is a confirmation of our dedicated, passionate and great work and care for the sacred olive tree and its oil."

"For us, this is confirmation of the quality of our product and our way of working, which is based on tradition and the modern processing and harvesting methods," he added.

He partially attributed the company's success to harvesting and milling all the fruit cold and on the same day. In the 2021/22 crop year, Vulic produced 2,500 liters of extra virgin olive oil using traditional methods.

Despite celebrating his first-ever NYIOOC award, he said the previous harvest came with plenty of challenges.

"Some varieties did not come to fruition this year," he said. "Thus, we focused mainly on traditional varieties – Oblica, Drobnica, Levantinka and Leccino."

"2021 was very dry, without water, but also without pests and the quality of the fruit was remarkable," Vulic added. "Drought was the biggest challenge."

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 Guide to the World's Best Olive Oils.