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On Monday 17th December registrations were officially opened to those wanting to take part in the 2019 edition of the Il Magnifico Award, the European Extra Quality Olive Oil Award, and aspire to become a green star of oil: an EQOO producer.
The Premio Il Magnifico Association is in fact involved, together with the producers of European olive oil excellence, in what is now called the “Extra Quality Olive Oil Renaissance”.
As the current terminology and segmentation of the market dedicated to “green gold” does not allow us to identify the excellence of olive oil production, as it combines non-uniform oils under the same “extra virgin” label, the Premio il Magnifico has decided to engage in an innovation of roles, concepts and vocabulary.
Il Magnifico, is ready to dedicate itself to the new “era” of extra-quality olive oil: hence the green stars of the oil are born, the producers EQOO (Extra Quality Olive Oil).
This first renewed edition of the Magnifico Award will see the birth of the European oil universe, with the awarding of green stars to the companies that will be certified by EQOO, the best producers of extra-quality olive oil in Europe.
The Green Stars will have to be defended and confirmed over the years, meaning that we will see new stars making an appearance in the edition and that some, unfortunately, will go out.
To aspire to be part of the EQOO companies will have to demonstrate that they comply with the EQOO Protocol that establishes minimum access parameters and thresholds as well as EQOO Values to be upheld, aimed at the commitment that each individual company assumes for the protection of the landscape and biodiversity, of the food culture and the identity of the territories.
EQOO green stars attest to quality combined with quantity
The Green Star identifies the quality, that is the recognition given to the companies attested as producers of extra-quality olive oil, through the technical tastings of the panel of experts (reaching 80 out of 100 average points of the samples presented), and for compliance with the parameters contained in the EQOO protocol.
The number of green stars will depend instead on the quantity of extra-quality oil produced: “We believe – they say at the Il Magnifico Award – that making good oil is difficult and that making a lot of it is even harder.
The extra quality will be awarded with the designation of 1, 2 or 3 stars. (1 Star: at least 2 labels and a global production between 15 and 49 quintals; 2 Stars: at least 2 labels produced and a global production of between 50 and 79 quintals; 3 Stars with at least 3 labels produced and a global production of over 80 quintals) “.
Who will be the Magnificent 2019?
Il Magnifico, will continue to be the olive oil of the year, or the best sample presented by an EQOO company (which has therefore obtained at least 1 Star), presented in a homogeneous batch of at least 10 quintals.
“The path we take – concludes the organisers – should act as a stimulus for the whole olive oil sector, in order to facilitate and enhance the positive features and promote the organic development of the sector itself. With its rigor of technical judgment, but its break with the vocabulary and the classifications of the past, the Magnifico sets itself the objective of bringing clarity and order to the galaxy of oil production, defining roles and new concepts”.