Lovers of olive oil, listen up! Bidni Extra Virgin Olive Oil has just won the Platinum Award at the renowned London International Olive Oil Competition, setting a new benchmark for Maltese olive oil on the international stage.

Virtually unknown to the world until two decades ago, the Bidni olive was thankfully revived through the dedicated efforts of Sammy Cremona and later by the Grima family.

The Bidni olive tree is an early harvest variety which naturally protects the olive fruit against fruit fly infestations. The olives, small and concave with a deep purple colour when ripe, yield a distinctive oil with a noticeably peppery taste, owing to the fruit’s high level of polyphenols.

The process of making this olive oil is an interesting one. The olives are cold-pressed within less than 24 hours of harvest, producing an extra virgin olive oil with an oleic acid percentage considerably lower than standard extra virgin olive oils.

Today, the Grima family cultivates around 600 Bidni trees, producing approximately 500 litres of this extra virgin olive oil annually.

‘It is of great honour to see the fruit of our work participate at this international event and receive such a prestigious award’, says Immanuel Grima, who together with his father Joe cultivates the Bidni olive trees. ‘While we anticipate an increase in production as our trees mature, our focus will remain on quality and the nurturing of this endemic variety’.

The London International Olive Oil Competition is one of the largest and most prestigious olive oil competitions in Europe, making this win a significant achievement for both the Grima family and MCA. And a great local honour too!

Bidni Extra Virgin Olive Oil is available for purchase at several shops around Malta. Bidni also forms part of the Merill Rural Network, an initiative that brings together a number of farmers and artisans from all over the Maltese Islands.

For more information about Bidni visit www.mcamalta.com