De Rustica makes SouthAfrican olive oil history

De Rustica has made South African olive oil history, becoming the first South African producer to take First Prize at the International Olive Council’s Mario

Solinas Quality Awards – Southern Hemisphere

The 2026 award was achieved by De Rustica’s Coratina and follows a Second Prize for the estate’s Coratina at the same competition in 2025.

Second last year. First this year

On its own, it is an extraordinary result. But its significance reaches beyond a single estate.

South Africa remains one of the smaller olive oil-producing countries in the Southern Hemisphere, competing on the international stage alongside established industries in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Australia, Brazil and Uruguay. From that relatively small base, a South African oil taking First Prize at the IOC’s Southern Hemisphere competition is a meaningful marker of how far the local industry has come.

The timing is particularly fitting. In September, South Africa formally submitted its request to become a member of the International Olive Council, signalling the country’s intention to take a more active place in the international olive oil community.

Against that backdrop, De Rustica’s First Prize offers a tangible expression of what South African olive oil can bring to that community: not scale, necessarily, but quality.

For De Rustica, the result also forms part of a much longer story.

From the groves outside De Rust in the Klein Karoo, De Rustica has built a record of recognition across some of the world’s most respected extra virgin olive oil competitions.

That story stretches back more than a decade and across continents, with recognition at Sol d’Oro and Flos Olei in Italy, repeated inclusion among South Africa’s Top 10, and an extraordinary run at EVOOLEUM in Spain.

In 2023, De Rustica’s Coratina was recognised by EVOOLEUM as the world’s highest-rated EVOO in that edition. Two years later, in 2025, the Coratina again scored 97 points and placed second. In 2026, it remained among EVOOLEUM’s Southern Hemisphere Top 10.

This year brought another significant first, with De Rustica’s Favolosa taking the top award at the NOVA Awards at Mercacei for new clonal cultivars.

Closer to home, the same philosophy continues to show itself. At the 2026 SA Olive Awards, De Rustica received five Gold awards, across Coratina, Medium, Favolosa, Chemlali and Koroneiki.

Different cultivars. Different competitions. Different judging panels. Different years

The common thread is the place and the people behind them.

Awards are simply one of the ways that work is measured beyond the farm. And perhaps that is what makes this latest result particularly meaningful. Organised by the International Olive Council, the Mario Solinas Quality Awards represent independent recognition at the highest level of the international olive oil industry.

For De Rustica, First Prize is therefore both a milestone and part of a much longer story.

One harvest can produce an exceptional oil. To do it again, and again, is something else entirely. DM