Pests plague wild olives on Croatian island as producers remain steadfast

The oil from this year’s harvest of wild olives on Croatia’s Lun peninsula will not be sensational. “There was no real harvest at all, and the little fruit that was harvested is not of the highest quality,” said Želimir Badurina, a successful olive grower and owner of a local oil mill on the island of Pag, with noticeable sadness in his voice. In the spring, Badurina enthusiastically accepted an invitation to produce oil from the wild olives at the northern tip of Pag and send them together with oils from Dalmatia to the 2022 edition of the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition. Pag, located about five kilometers off the coast of central Croatia, is famous for its sheep cheese and is home to some of Europe’s oldest olive trees. Badurina and other local producers believe the oil from the wild trees is not adequately valued outside of Croatia and are working together to change this. Badurina is one of the founders of the Lun Olive Cooperative, which, with the support of the city of ...