11 Apr High Fives For ALTO Olives
The keenly awaited Spring clutch of Australian olive industry awards for new season olive oils and table olives have yielded NSW family producer ALTO Olives a swag of accolades – and not just for its acclaimed Extra Virgin Olive Oils.
For the first time ALTO Table Olives triumphed at the Australian Olive Association 2013 Awards, ALTO Kalamata winning the coveted Champion Trophy and a Gold Medal for the nation’s Best Table Olives (Class 14). In the same Table Olive awards ALTO Misto and ALTO Martini both won Silver Medals and were respectively crowned Best in Class (Class 11 & 15).
Significantly, ALTO Kalamata also impressed the judges of the 2013 Royal Melbourne Show where the citation was a Silver Medal. ALTO Wild also ranked Silver status.
‘Much of the energy of Australia’s vibrant olive sector has correctly focused on quality standards for Extra Virgin oil. But there is significant and as yet largely unfilled market opportunity for high quality Australian grown and naturally preserved table olives,’ commented ALTO proprietor, Robert Armstrong.
‘ALTO Olives has invested significantly in a state-of-the-art table olive production facility, and that commitment is now showing rewards. We handpick, sort, brine, marinate and pack all our table olives on the grove, a paddock-to-tub process that I believe is one of the keys of our success.’
Not to be outshone ALTO Vividus (from the varietal Hardy’s Mammoth) was judged Champion Single Estate Grown Oil at the prestigious 2013 Royal Melbourne Show. Its stable mateALTO Robust also won Gold, with Silver Medals awarded toALTO Delicate and the infused ALTO Mandarin. At the 2013 Canberra Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show the top performers wereALTO Vividus, Robust and the food service PRO-Blend, all winning Gold Medals.
‘The critical benefit of these industry awards is their professional peer assessment, and the fact that after 15 years hard work we are producing consistently high quality, award-winning olive products,’ continued Robert Armstrong
ALTO Olives 2013 Australian Show season tallied two Trophies, six Gold Medals and 13 Silver Medals, plus one more from the 2013 New York International Olive Oil Competition.