About our Sensory Evaluation Laboratory
The Sensory Εvaluation Laboratory of Crete ACR was established in 2007 and is located in Rethimnon, Crete, Greece. It is certified by the Hellenic Accreditation System (ESYD) for the Sensory Evaluation of Virgin Olive Oil and it is recognized by the International Olive Council (IOC)
Furthermore, our Laboratory is certified under EN ISO 900:2015 by TUV/AUSTRIA-HELLAS, for “The development and implementation of workshops and seminars“
Our modern laboratory is fully equipped so to meet the strict standards of IOC and EU legislation with individual sensory evaluation cabins for our team of tasters, storage rooms with a controlled environment for the olive oil samples, and a modern “Seminar hall” for our training courses.
Our laboratory as well as the trained and experienced team of tasters, are certified according to ISO 17025 by the Hellenic Accreditation System (ESYD) for the virgin olive oils sensory evaluation and issue of relevant test reports.
Our team of tasters has twelve, carefully selected members who have successfully passed the respected courses by certified trainers of IOC. They are working voluntarily and apart from their extended experience in olive oil quality and sensory evaluation, they are highly skilled and passionate also in the cultivation, extraction and communication of olive oil.
The scientific supervisor and panel leader of our laboratory is Μrs Germanaki Eleftheria, who is an agronomist and highly experienced in olive oil quality evaluation. In addition, ms Germanaki is a well-known recognized judge in various international olive oil competitions (USA, Italy, Israel, Greece, Japan, France, UAE, etc)
Certifications of our Laboratory:
Services and activities
With an extensive experience for over 30 years in olive oil quality, our main goal is to support, evaluate and promote the quality of extra virgin olive oil through a variety of activities and services.
- Sensory evaluation of virgin olive oils and issue of an official test report for the classification category (Extra Virgin, Virgin or Lampante), according to the EU legislation
- Support of company’s and profecionals (olive millers , bottlers, traders etc) with in-depth sensory evaluation of their samples, including “spider diagram”
- Sensory evaluation of olive oil samples before bottling
- Sensory evaluation for analyse the core-cause of possible defects and provide relevant instructions
- We organise seminar, webinars and educational courses with our highly skilled partners, mainly around the olive tree cultivation and the olive oil production with extensive coverage of all the levels (cultivation, fertilizing, irrigation, pest control, harvesting, extraction, storage, bottling, marketing and of course quality evaluation). Our seminars are certified under EN ISO 9001:2015 certificate, by TUV AUSTRIA HELLAS
- We collaborate with Greek authorities, Educational institutes and Association, for the purposes of research, training and for promote the quality excellence in EVOO
- We participate in a variety of local and international competitions as judges or panel leaders (USA, Israel, Italy, Greece, Japan, France, etc)
- Since 2015, in collaboration with the Region of Crete, we are organizing the Cretan Olive Oil competition (Cretan OOC).
Cretan Olive Oil Competition (Cretan OOC)
Since 2015, Cretan Prefecture, in collaboration with our Laboratory, all Cretan authorities and Associations that are involved with the product, are organizing the Cretan Olive Oil Competition.
Cretan OOC plays a key role today, not only for reveal and promote the quality excellence, the special characteristics and the varieties of Cretan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but also for elevate the average quality through educational activities.
Stay tuned in the CretanOOC website and social media for updated info.
