Meet the SA Olive Awards 2024 judging panel

The judging takes place at Klein Joostenberg, near Stellenbosch, and six EVOO experts, including an international judge are testing, tasting and meticulously reviewing each entry.

Once all entries have been judged, the highest-scoring gold medal winners will be entered into an additional round of judging and the top EVOOs will be selected for the prestigious Absa Top 10 Awards, which take place in October 2024.

Top EVOOs compete for honours at SA Olive Awards

7 Aug 2024

Here are the judges...

Pablo Canamasas

International EVOO expert, Pablo Canamasas returns to South Africa where this will be his fourth time judging the SA Olive Awards. Wwhen asked about the competition, he says: “As a judge, you always appreciate being part of competitions which gather great oils, because every time you taste a different EVOO, your sensorial experiences are enhanced.”

With over 25 years’ experience in the olive oil industry, Canamasas currently provides consultancy services for various private companies and olive associations across the globe.

After graduating in Argentina, and specialising in olive oil production and oil quality, Canamasas attained a post-graduate degree in oil production and table olives in Jaen, Spain.

Since then, he has honed his skills in modern olive oil extraction techniques, olive processing, oil blending and quality control.

Benedetta Lami

As a certified professional olive oil taster since 2007, and a member of the official SA Olive Tasting Panel since 2009, Lami has attended a great number of courses with local and international experts over the years, including an Olive Oil Sommelier Master Class in Florence.

She has been a regular judge in local and international competitions, such as the SA Olive Awards, Absa Top 10, Aurora, as well as Sol D’oro Southern Hemisphere in Cape Town (2015 and 2018), Melbourne (2016) and Tacna (Perù 2023).

In 2018 she became an Associate of the prestigious register of EVOO Savantes after successfully completing a challenging test. In 2019, she captained the South African team at the Savantes Championship and became a Silver Associate.

Lami, a passionate ambassador for quality olive oil, frequently holds EVOO tasting and appreciation courses in South Africa and Italy, and has organised various friendly tasting competitions.

Gerrie Duvenage

With over two decades of experience, Gerrie Duvenage is a highly qualified olive oil industry expert. His career began when, in 2000, he assisted Luciano Scarselli in organising South Africa's first olive oil tasting course at Erinvale after which he attended a tasting course at ONAOO in Italy in 2002 and went on to organise several more olive oil courses at Morgenster.

Duvenage became a certified panel leader after completing a course at ONAOO in 2005 and led numerous South African olive oil competitions between 2006 and 2016. He was the first recipient of the South African Olive Achiever of the Year award in 2006 and also earned an Achiever Award in 2013.
From 1995 to 2017, Gerrie was a South African olive oil producer and, since 2018, he has consulted on olive oil processing in both South Africa and California. Currently, Gerrie acts as an agent for olive oil processing machines in southern Africa.

Gill Lanham

A passionate Extra Virgin Olive Oil taster, Lanham’s tasting experience started in 2019. Since then, her love for EVOO grew and 2021 saw her enroll in an introductory Olive Oil Tasting Course conducted by Aldo Mazzini.

After this course, she was invited to join the prestigious SA Olive Oil tasting panel as a guest taster which further allowed her to hone her expertise. In 2022, she enrolled in the Advanced Course in Olive Oil Tasting, and at the beginning of 2023 Lanham was appointed as an official taster on the SA Olive Oil Panel.

Jackie Loubser

Jackie Loubser’s journey in olive oil tasting started in 2017 when she joined a tasting group that met regularly to taste and discuss olive oils. A few workshops and courses followed.

By 2019, she successfully completed the Savantes tasting examination which took her to Spain to participate in the Savantes Olive Oil Team Tasting World Championships.

That same year she joined the tasting panel of SA Olive and has since served on the panel as well as the SA Olive Tasting Competition panel from 2020. She has been a judge on the Aurora International Taste Challenge panel for olive oils and olives for the past three years.

Apart from serving on the panel for SA Olive, she also presented olive oil tasting and food pairing workshops for SA Olive at various culinary schools.

Mare Groenewald

Mare Groenewald has been a CTC Tasting panel member since 2017 when she started her beginners training with SA Olive. Since then, she has done numerous courses and progressed to judging the SA Olive Awards in both 2019 and 2020.

Currently working at The Olive Specialists, Groenewald not only manages the specialised field of olive equipment and packaging, but also supports and assists olive producers and farmers on various levels.

She has a great understanding of the olive industry, which includes knowledge about organoleptic evaluation, understanding the farming operations, technical aspects, product requirements and specifications.

Reni Hildenbrand

An EVOO and wine producer, Reni Hildenbrand has been a member of SA Olive since 1992. She received her Olive Oil Taster Certificate from O.N.A.O.O. in Imperia, Italy, in 2002 and completed an international course for Panel Supervisors of Virgin Olive Oil Tasters at O.N.A.O.O. in 2005. For the past 13 years, she has been a panel leader on the SA Olive organoleptic panel, assessing for the CTC scheme.

Hildenbrand also written a book titled, Olives and Oil in South Africa presenting olives, olive oil and tasting courses, being panel leader in 2016 for Olive NZ in Oakland, being a taster at the SOL D’ORO Southern Hemisphere Olive Oil Competitions in 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as a taster on two panels in Turkey in October and November of 2018.

Most recently, Hildenbrand was a panel leader in New Zealand in 2023 and a judge at an international olive oil competition in Tunesia July 2024.

Theresa Louw

Theresa Louw has dedicated 40 years to the testing and quality control of liquor products. She began her career at KWV, a renowned South African wine and spirits company, and after two decades, she established her own private laboratory in Wellington. Her passion for olive oil was sparked when she was invited to serve as a guest taster for SA Olive, leading her to become a passionate advocate for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

Following several technical and tasting courses, Louw was appointed as a regular taster on the CTC Certification Panel. In 2018, she participated in panel tastings in Turkey, and the following year, she served as a judge at the 2019 SA Olive Awards.