Submissions for the annual California Olive Council (COOC) awards grew 40 percent as the industry saw olive oil production rise to a record four million gallons of extra virgin oil.

The California Olive Oil Council recently held its annual awards.

In a field of 166 submissions, 76 silver and 41 gold were among the award-winning extra virgin olive oils.

Visit cooc.com/competition-winners/ for the full list of winners. 

Standouts in the extra virgin category included the Best of Show in three different production levels:

Also recognized along with each Best of Show producer is the miller who processed these outstanding oils: John Eudy, the miller for Dogtown, Lewis Johnson (Butte View Olive Mill) for Olive Fantastic and Pablo Voitzuk for Pacific Sun.

For the first time ever, the COOC held a Packaging and Design Competition in the following categories: 

The winners in the single and series categories are: 

With a historic production of over four million gallons of California extra virgin olive oil for the 2015 harvest, the COOC and its producers mark an unprecedented year of growth for the state’s burgeoning olive oil industry.

There are over 38,000 acres of olives planted in California for the production of extra virgin olive oil with over 400 growers/producers in the state. The COOC estimates that 3,500 new acres will be planted each year in California through 2020. Over 75 olive varieties are grown in the state for olive oil production resulting in blends unique to California.

The COOC is a trade association with the mission of encouraging the consumption of certified California extra virgin olive oil through education, outreach and communications. The COOC is committed to upholding the highest standards within the olive oil industry through its Seal Certification Program.  The COOC has over 400 members including growers and producers, service providers, retailers and other supporters of the California olive oil industry.

The COOC represents over 90 percent of all olive oil production in California.