Casas de Hualdo Reserva de Familia Takes the Prize After Nearly 1,500 Products Competed for Top Specialty Food Association Awards
New York, NY (May 10th, 2021) – CASAS DE HUALDO Reserva de Familia has won the New Product Award in the oil/vinegar category as part of the Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) 2021 sofi™ Awards, a top honor in the $158 billion specialty food industry.
Casas de Hualdo Reserva de Familia Extra Virgin Olive Oil, was one of 130 winners selected from nearly 1,500 entries across 49 product categories. Products are judged in an anonymous sampling for taste - including flavor, appearance, texture and aroma - ingredient quality, and innovation. The sofi judging was held at the prestigious Rutgers Food Innovation Center in April following strict safety guidelines.
“We are thrilled that RESERVA DE FAMILIA has won a New Product Award,” says Maria Reyes, Vice President of CASAS DE HUALDO NORTH AMERICA. “To be recognized by the industry for our commitment to quality and flavor is a big honor. The sofi Awards are ultimate stamps of approval and we’re proud to claim the New Product recognition this year.”
Casas de Hualdo’s Reserva de Familia is made by milling small batches of olives from the best plots on the Hualdo estate, from the four varieties of olive trees: arbequina, picual, cornicabra and manzanilla. Each variety is extracted and tasted independently, and our oleo technician defines the optimum blend by seizing the best of each cultivar.
This oil is intended to reflect the passion for a trade and above all the gratitude for the generosity that nature shows in the land. An oil of great elegance and rounded balance, powerful, with an extraordinary structure and aromatic persistence. Available for purchase at https://shop.casasdehualdo.com/ at a $27.99 price for 17oz.
The sofi Awards competition is open annually to members of the Specialty Food Association. The Awards have been given each year since 1972. They recognize extraordinary specialty food and beverage products and the people who create them.
About Casas de Hualdo
In the quest for the perfect extra virgin olive oil, Casas de Hualdo has mastered the art of extracting excellence from nature without compromising its beauty, harmony and vitality. Situated along the Tagus River in the central Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain, the scenic Casas de Hualdo estate cultivates selected olives — Arbequina, Cornicabra, Manzanilla Cacereña and Picual varieties — that are carefully gathered and cold extracted on-site within six hours of harvest.
Ultimately, the Hualdo Farm has set up a comprehensive project that, encompassing all the farm's agricultural and livestock production activities, establishes a new farming model that contributes to the improvement of consumers’, producers’ and, in short, the whole society’s life, through the production of excellent and sustainable food.
A new line of artisan cheeses and organic fruits and vegetables are part of this integrated model, where all the farm’s activities are combined in perfect symbiosis. To learn more, visit www.casasdehualdo.com/en.
Casas de Hualdo has already been recognized on several occasions by US professional panels. Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competitions selected their Picual monovarietal EVOO with the Marco Mugelli award, as the absolute best EVOO of the competition 2019, among 500 samples. New York OOC has also repeatedly awarded the different varieties produced in this farm.
Internationally, their Reserva de Familia ranks with 99 points on the well-known Italian FLOS OLEI guide, while their mill was appointed as best olive oil mill of Spain, to praise the high technology and its perfect integration with the surrounding environment.
About the Specialty Food Association
The Specialty Food Association (SFA), is the leading trade association and source of information about the $158.4 billion specialty food industry. Founded in 1952 in New York City, the SFA represents makers, importers, retailers, distributors, and others in the trade. The SFA is known for its Fancy Food Shows; the sofi™ Awards, which honor excellence in specialty food and beverage; Trendspotter Panel Show reports and annual predictions; the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report; the Product Marketplace database, featuring specialty foods and beverages in 161 categories and sub-categories; Infinite Aisle, a new ecommerce marketplace that enables SFA Members to make buyer-maker connections and sales year-round; and Specialty Food LIVE!™, a digital marketplace experience.