The judging process for the US International Olive Oil Competition is very thorough.
Samples will first be assessed and paneled by our olive oil experts.
After samples are vetted they will be shipped to judges for the blind virtual tasting.
Trade Buyers will have a week to taste samples and results will be reviewed by our head judge.
Awards
Info about awards judging
Award levels are Double Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.
Double Gold: Phenomenal Product (Must Be Unanimous Decision by Panelists)
Gold: Buyers “Love” It
Silver: Buyers “Like” It
Bronze: Buyers would purchase it
Double Gold award winners will be re-tasted by all panelists to establish which brands may be eligible to receive a ‘Best of Category’ endorsement in its pricing category
Double Gold Medal
Gold Medal
Silver Medal
Bronze Medal
Judging Process
If the preliminary judges are faced with an obviously flawed bottle of a product the sample will not be given to the trade buyer judging panel to judge.
The tasting order of entries is set in our database first by panel, then category. Large categories are randomly split by the database so that no panel is asked to taste more than 80 products in the same category over a week.
Olive Oils are presented to judges in coded glass samples. No producer information is visible to judges at any time until the competition is finished. Staff members are strictly forbidden from discussing any brand names, whether entered or not in the competition.
The decision of the judges is final and no changes are made to awards after the judging is complete. Judges receive a copy of the code sheets of the olive oils they judged with awards noted, so they are able to compare our records with their notes from the judging.
We only list the winners of the competition and not the entries that don’t receive awards.
