March 16, 2019 – More international recognition of Istrian olive oil excellence, as Chiavalon picks up a 3-star EQOO award in Florence.
It is one of my favourite business success stories in Croatia, and a story which keeps on growing.
A story of how a teenage passion for the family olive trees and olive oil blossomed into a thriving business producing some of the very best olive oil in the world. From the Chiavalon website:
Ever since my earliest days, my love for olive trees grew each time I visited our little olive grove with my grandfather. I have always been fascinated by its slow growth, its beauty and the gift it gives us after all the hard work. Until 1997, we cultivated only 50 olive trees, about 300 to 400 years old. After my grandfather fell ill, there was nobody left to cultivate our olive grove, so while my peers were busy collecting football cards and riding their bikes, I had a somewhat different hobby. My only goal was to learn each and every fact about this beautiful tree and to produce extra virgin olive oil that would make my whole family happy. It was certainly not easy at the beginning – a 14-year-old, stating that he wants to work, can only get an “oh, it’s just puberty” reaction. However, my family soon recognized my passion for olive trees and jumped in to help me. With time, this hobby marked my entire life and grew into our family business.
Many years later, and the passion of Sandi Chiavalon and his brother Tedi remains, and those 50 trees have mushroomed into a major business producing about 16,000 litres of high-quality olive oil each year.
You can read about the numerous previous awards on the dedicated Chiavalon page on TCN, but now we have to add another after events in Florence last night. Perhaps this is best explained by Sandy Chiavalon himself and his Facebook post:
“Yesterday we were awarded with 3*** Extra Quality Olive Oil together with other eleven European producers by Premio il Magnifico???
“Getting the 3*** for a producer of olive oil is like getting the 3*** Michelin for a restaurant. We are so proud of this award that belongs completely to our great team.”
Congratulations – again! To learn more about the amazing olive oils of Chiavalon, visit the official website.
To learn more about olive oil in Croatia, check out the Total Croatia guide.
