We had never entered the Berlin Global Olive Oil Awards before. This year we decided to give it a go, with no particular expectations. We came back with two gold awards.
One for the sensory quality of our oil. One for design and packaging.
When we saw them together, something struck us. These two things, for us, were never separate. From the beginning, how Yapapi looks and what it holds inside were always the same conversation. We never wanted a beautiful bottle to distract from what's inside it. We wanted both to tell the same story.
That story starts every November in Kalamata. Early harvest, hand-picking, immediate cold extraction. The process doesn't change because we know quality doesn't happen by chance, it comes from decisions made early, even when the season is difficult. This one was. And yet.
What is Berlin GOOA?
The Berlin Global Olive Oil Awards is one of the world's most important olive oil competitions. This year, around 850 products from 448 producers worldwide were evaluated, through blind tasting and multiple rounds of assessment. A distinction here serves as a benchmark for buyers, importers, chefs, and consumers looking for the world's finest olive oils.
For us, seeing our oil recognized at this level has a very specific meaning. It's not confirmation that we're "the best", that kind of chest-beating doesn't suit us and doesn't interest us. It's confirmation that the choices we make every year, from the grove to the bottle, matter. That it's worth continuing.
We're proud. Genuinely proud. And our commitment stays the same: to give everything we have each year so that the quality of what we produce remains high. It's not easy, no season ever is. But that's exactly what keeps us focused.
The duck keeps doing what it does.
Quietly and consistently.