The award ceremony of the Japan Olive Oil Prize (JOOP), an international event celebrating quality, innovation and creativity in the world of extra virgin olive oil, took place in Tokyo, offering an exclusive platform for producers, designers, buyers and industry enthusiasts. The 2025 edition was organised in the Aoyama design district, with 577 oils from 28 countries participating, consolidating the event as one of the most important global competitions in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVO) sector.
The aim of JOOP is to support producers in the Japanese market, known for its sophisticated taste, and to raise awareness of high quality products among Japanese consumers through master classes, guided tastings and educational activities. “Our work does not end with the award ceremony, it continues throughout the year,” explains Davide Fantoni, general manager of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan. “The competition winners are presented on various occasions and in different BtoB and BtoC contexts. These include Asia’s largest agri-food fair, Foodex Japan, a strategic international showcase for meeting buyers, distributors and sector operators’. The Japanese extra virgin olive oil market has shown significant growth, rising from EUR 280 million in 2023 to around EUR 307 million in 2024, an increase of 9.6% year-on-year, according to IndexBox’s report Japan: Virgin Olive Oil – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights (2024). Forecasts indicate that the market will exceed 337 million by 2025, supported by the growing focus of Japanese consumers on high quality and healthy products. The international jury of 12 world-renowned experts selected the winners through a careful process of blind evaluation and tasting, carried out to the highest international standards. “We are finally seeing an increasing number of excellent quality flavoured oils, such as those we have had the pleasure of tasting over the last few days. It is a very interesting and fast-growing segment, especially in this part of the world. The JOOP is also an important showcase for this sector, offering visibility and recognition to the most innovative producers,’ emphasises Antonio G. Lauro, one of the four JOOP panel leaders. Alongside the competition dedicated to the quality of the oil, the JOOP Design Award, which will be active from 2020, also emphasises the aesthetic and communicative aspects of EVOO: packaging, labels and bottle design are assessed by an international jury of experts in the field of design.
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