Seafaring Olives of Dalmatia’s miOliva Awarded at World Competition

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

We are a young family farm with boutique production grown on the effort, will and hope of our ancestors. Winning means a very big step forward, giving us a greater will to be even better.

Dasa Hegler, owner

Based in Dalmatia, the company earned an award for its miOlive Dalmatia brand, a medium Oblica.

"We are a young family farm with boutique production grown on the effort, will and hope of our ancestors," owner Dasa Hegler said. "Winning means a very big step forward, giving us a greater will to be even better."

In the 2022/23 crop year, miOlive produced 500 liters of extra virgin olive oil using traditional methods. Hegler said that producing olive oil on an island with very little development is a significant challenge year in and year out.

"Our olive trees are located on an island without cars, and the olive oil is all handmade," she said. "The olives need to be transported by boat to reach one of the best mills in the region."

"That's our biggest challenge along with the olive fly, which is difficult to prevent using only organic methods on our island," Dasa added.

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.