LATEST NEWS
Awards season in the Olive Industry

As surely as Oscar season or, more depressingly, tax season rolls around every year, late August marks that time of the year when the harvest is in, all the oil has been bottled and the local industry gathers for a celebration of its annual best and brightest. This year the two major competitions, the Marco Zichella Awards and the SA Olive Awards were held in Stellenbosch and Laborie in Paarl respectively.

AWARDS
SA Olive Awards

Ten extra virgin olive oils have been heralded as the finest of the current South African vintage. The results of the 2009 SA Olive Awards were announced on the 16th of September. This year entrants competed in Commercial and Boutique classes and of the total number of entries, which have grown with 53% since 2008, 10 received gold awards, while 9 earned silver and 10 bronze.

The four top achievers in the Commercial class, with four gold medals apiece, are: Kloovenburg Olives, Morgenster, Olyfberg and Rio Largo.

Half a dozen olive oils earned gold awards in the Boutique class. The achievers in this category are: Diepsak Farm, The Lady Olive, Saint Sebastian, Muiskraal, Olyven Houdt and Waterfall River who each won one gold award.

Annalene du Toit of Kloovenburg Estate has been named the 2009 ABSA Olive Achiever of the Year for her impressive passion for and contribution to the growth of the industry.

Marco Zichella Awards

The MARCO ZICHELLA AWARD celebrated its eighth edition in Stellenbosch on the 4th of September. Eighteen Southern African extra virgin olive oils, pressed with the Italian OLIOMIO extraction equipment, took part in this year’s competition. First prize went to Waterfall River, 2nd to Groote Vallei and 3rd to River Bend.

[ more OLIVE ARTICLE ]

CORPORATE GIFT
Brochure

Amongst the most popular attractions of the shop has been its annual range of corporate gifts which has allowed its growing list of corporate customers to offer their clients and employees’ gifts that are stylish, affordable, unique and truly homegrown.

This year we have made a selection of the most popular gifts from the past four years for your consideration, as well as some new and exciting ideas. It is, however important to remember that every corporate gift is essentially custom-made according to each customer’s individual specifications and we look forward to discussing your needs and ideas with you.

[ email for CORPORATE GIFT BROCHURE ]

FEATURED PRODUCT Kalamatas in Blueberry Dressing This is the olive to turn cynics into olive lovers and has consistently been the most popular product in the shop. [ more FEATURED PRODUCTS ]