News

Willow Creek Olive Oils, a proudly South African Company, situated in the Nuy valley, Western Cape, has done it again taking top honours at the 20th L’Orciolo d’ Oro in Italy and at the Terra Olivo International Olive Oil competition in Israel.

In Italy the Willow Creek Estate Blend – the extra virgin olive oil in the famous Squeeze bottle – and the flagship Directors’ Reserve were crowned overall winners in two separate categories, beating leading producers from countries including Brazil and Chile.

At the Terra Olivo International Olive Oil competition led by panel leader and renowned extra virgin olive oil expert, Dr. Antonio Giuseppe Lauro, Willow Creek’s Directors’ Reserve and Estate Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil both received Gold Medals.

What makes these awards even more prestigious is the fact that the Nuy Valley experienced one of its worst droughts in decades.

The dedication from the team at Willow Creek combined with excellent olives produced in this valley and superb pressing and bottling facilities is reflected in their consistent performance in producing Extra Virgin Olive oil of outstanding qualities:

The Directors’ Reserve was named winner of the category for extra virgin olive oils of intense flavor at L’Orciolo d’Oro in 2009. The Directors’ Reserve ticks all the boxes when it comes to premium quality extra virgin olive oil: the satisfying bitterness and tingling pungency provide structure to the oil without overpowering the complex aromas of artichokes and tomato vines, followed by nuances of rocket, salad herbs and a pleasant lingering nuttiness.

The Willow Creek Estate Blend is distributed in an unbreakable and eco-friendly PET bottle, which has made it even more popular with consumers and won a number of awards. The bottle incorporates a specially added oxygen barrier and UV filter, which keeps the shelf life of the oil intact for at least two years.  This winning extra virgin olive oil presents flavours of freshly cut grass and herbs, which follows through on the palate with a balanced bitterness and slight peppery character. The medium intensity makes it the ideal style extra virgin olive oil for salads, pasta and soup. It is also a healthy alternative to refined oils or margarines with trans-fatty acids.

The company has invested heavily in top quality machinery, as evidenced by the introduction of  the cutting edge Leopard 8 centrifuge, manufactured by the Italian Pieralisi brand – the only trademark producing machinery exclusively for olive oil.  One of the distinct differentiators of this technological advanced machine is that it requires no water to be added during oil extraction from the olives. The polyphenols, which contain all the flavour, therefore remains undiluted during the process.

The company has made a significant investment in new production and bottling facilities, which will be commissioned during September 2018.

‘With over 200 hectares of our own olive trees and the new facility at our disposal we are positioned to make a significant impact on the South African olive oil market, and to live up to our credo of “ Goodness is in our Nature “’ say newly appointed CEO Hannes Jansen.

For more information, visit www.willowcreek.co.za or contact PR Manager AC Goodger at 023 342 5793 or ac.goodger@willowcreek.co.za