Herzegovina Looks Ahead to Adriatic Olive Oil Symposium

Summary

The arti­cle dis­cusses a new study that found a link between air pol­lu­tion and an increased risk of devel­op­ing Alzheimer’s dis­ease. Researchers dis­cov­ered that expo­sure to fine par­tic­u­late mat­ter was asso­ci­ated with higher lev­els of amy­loid plaques in the brain, a hall­mark of Alzheimer’s dis­ease.

Olive grow­ers from Herzegovina are eagerly antic­i­pat­ing the International Symposium on Olive Oils of Croatia and the Adriatic Coast, set to take place September 16 – 18 in Postira, on the Croatian island of Brač.

“We will gladly attend,” said Prof. Marko Ivanković, direc­tor of the Federal Agromediterranean Institute (FAZ) in Mostar, Herzegovina’s largest city and a region where olives have been cul­ti­vated for cen­turies. Local pro­duc­ers and experts are par­tic­u­larly excited that the sym­po­sium will bring together rep­re­sen­ta­tives from all four Eastern Adriatic nations — Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro — along­side researchers, edu­ca­tors, and culi­nary pro­fes­sion­als from around the world.

Rising Recognition for Herzegovinian Oils

For Herzegovinian pro­duc­ers, the event is an oppor­tu­nity to show­case oils that have recently gained inter­na­tional recog­ni­tion. ​“Herzegovinian olive oils are now rec­og­nized as pre­mium qual­ity, although until recently few out­side of Bosnia and Herzegovina had heard of them,” Ivanković said.

Marko Ivanković, director of the Federal Agromediterranean Institute (FAZ) in Mostar

The region’s olive-grow­ing renais­sance began just 15 years ago, when only 80 hectares were under cul­ti­va­tion. Today, the fig­ure stands at 668 hectares, with a strate­gic goal of reach­ing 1,000 hectares by 2030. Annual pro­duc­tion, now about 380,000 liters, is expected to dou­ble in the com­ing years.

The foun­da­tion for this growth is strong: an almost ideal ter­roir of soil, cli­mate, and water; a sen­sory analy­sis panel; and the estab­lish­ment in 2020 of the Herzegovinian Association of Olive Growers and Producers (HUUM), which brings together Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs. Together, FAZ and HUUM have secured pro­tected des­ig­na­tion of ori­gin (PDO) sta­tus, launched the regional brand Golden Drops of Herzegovina, and devel­oped rig­or­ous qual­ity test­ing sys­tems.

Recent lab analy­ses con­firm the oils’ nutri­tional excel­lence. At the lat­est ​“Days of Olives and Olive Oil” fes­ti­val, 60 per­cent of sam­ples tested con­tained 250 mil­ligrams or more of polyphe­nols per liter — meet­ing the European Union’s health claim reg­u­la­tion (EU 432/2012). ​“Oils rich in polyphe­nols have greater health ben­e­fits,” Ivanković explained.

That qual­ity has trans­lated to inter­na­tional suc­cess. At the 2025 World Olive Oil Competition, all 11 Herzegovinian entries earned medals — six gold and five sil­ver.

Collaboration Across Borders

The sym­po­sium will also serve as a forum for deeper coop­er­a­tion among Adriatic olive-grow­ing nations. Ivanković plans to pro­pose a cross-bor­der project to study the ter­roir of the Eastern Adriatic in detail. ​“We could answer the ques­tion of why our oils achieve such high qual­ity and why they com­mand higher mar­ket prices than those from Italy, Spain, Turkey, or Greece,” he said.

Herzegovina, he noted, sits on the north­ern­most edge of viable olive-grow­ing zones. Its unique cli­mate — hot days and cool nights — may pose risks of frost but also fos­ters high polyphe­nol con­tent in its oils. ​“Perhaps what was once a dis­ad­van­tage has become an advan­tage under cli­mate change,” Ivanković added.

Building a Brand and a Future

Beyond the lab and the groves, Herzegovina is devel­op­ing oleo­tourism. The planned ​“Olive Oil Roads of Herzegovina” project aims to estab­lish a net­work of up to 12 tast­ing rooms, pro­mot­ing olive oil along­side other local prod­ucts. Long-term ambi­tions include expand­ing the ini­tia­tive across all four Adriatic coun­tries.

“The years ahead will require hard work to pro­mote our brand and estab­lish Herzegovina as a rec­og­nized olive-grow­ing region,” Ivanković said. ​“One of our goals is to send at least 30 sam­ples to New York next year. There is no bet­ter pro­mo­tion for pro­duc­ers than to be fea­tured in the Official Guide to the World’s Best Olive Oils for an entire year.”

Spotlight on Postira

The sym­po­sium in Postira will open on September 16 with a wel­come hosted by Olive Oil Times pub­lisher Curtis Cord and Croatian Minister of Tourism and Sport Tonči Glavina. Over three days, par­tic­i­pants will take part in guided tast­ings, work­shops, tech­ni­cal pre­sen­ta­tions, and live culi­nary demon­stra­tions, while explor­ing Brač’s ancient olive groves — home to more than a mil­lion trees.

The gath­er­ing will con­clude with a cer­e­mony hon­or­ing pro­duc­ers of excel­lence and cel­e­brat­ing the Eastern Adriatic’s grow­ing influ­ence in the world of extra vir­gin olive oil. Organizers will also present the Olive Oil Times Champion of Excellence awards to indi­vid­u­als whose vision and lead­er­ship have sig­nif­i­cantly advanced the sec­tor.