The most important Dalmatian, and at the same time Croatian variety is “Oblica”, both for its quality and for its share in the total number of olive trees. It accounts for about 60% of the total Croatian cultivars. In Dalmatia, this is 75-80%, while together with “Lastovka” and “Levantinka” they make up 90% of the total varieties of Dalmatian olive groves.

Olives love light, and this is why the sun abundant Dalmatian climate is well-suited for their growth. According to climatic classification, Dalmatia has the so-called CSA type climate, which the World Meteorological Organization calls the olive climate.

Karst areas facing south, slopes and hills unsuitable for irrigation and machine farming along with the influence of the sea, provide the finest quality olive oil from indigenous varieties, with moderate bitterness and pungency, moderate spiciness, and a strong smell of fresh olive fruit.

More and more Croatian producers are entering The Best Olive Oils Yearly Index. The index is the result of the New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC), the largest and most influential competition in the world for top-quality oils. This year,28 countries submitted 1,240 samples of extra virgin olive oil to the world’s largest olive oil quality competition. So far, 468 Gold Awards and 225 Silver Awards have been given out and Croatian producers had earned a total of 93 awards (67 Gold and 26 Silver), with only Spanish and Italian producers earning more with 140 and 111, respectively.