Producers in small Croatian olive oil village celebrate success while calling for more support

Situated on the scenic Dalmatian coastline, the small municipality of Pakoštane is home to one of the highest concentrations of award-winning producers in Croatia. Benefiting from the area’s unique geography and climate, producers enjoyed unprecedented success at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition and came together recently to celebrate. Among the newly-anointed NYIOOC winners at the festivity were Ante Vulin, Vinko Lalin and Tomislav Čudina, each of whom won Gold Awards for their extra virgin olive oil at the world’s largest olive oil quality competition in New York. “We are glad that we contributed to the success of our country’s olive growers,” said Vulin, the owner of eponymous OPG Vulin, which earned a Gold Award for its Antino brand, a medium-intensity Oblica. Meanwhile, Lalin of OPG Lalin and his daughter Danijela earned a Gold Award for their Dalma Premium brand, a medium blend. The Lalin family said they were delighted with the award, the brand’s third gold medal ...