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Use of AIOA medal decals
A medal decal on your award-winning product is a fast road to increased sales. It tells people your EVOO, flavoured oil or table olives have been judged as being seriously good - or in the case of Gold, exceptional.
However, with our industry on a continuing mission to ensure consumer trust in our products via labelling integrity, there are strict guidelines on the use of medal decals that it’s important all producers adhere to. They’re pretty straightforward but unfortunately, it seems not everyone is taking note, so here’s a reminder.
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Medal decals can be used: • ONLY on the specific product* which wins that award; • ONLY on the specific product of that harvest year. *If a winning product is changed in any way (e.g. flavouring added), it is no longer eligible to carry the medal decal.
So, if your 2021 harvest Frantoio EVOO from your own grove won a Gold medal, grab yourself some Gold medal decals and make sure potential purchasers know that that EVOO won Gold. But: • DON’T use the decals on any other of your products; • DON’T use the decals on your 2020 or 2022 Frantoio EVOO; • DON’T use the decals on a separate 2021 harvest Frantoio EVOO made with fruit from another grove or partner grower.
AIOA winners are also specifically guided by the following clause in the Conditions of Entry: "By entering this Competition, Medal recipients agree that only the specific Entry that received the award can have any reference to that award on the label or container."
Buying-in ‘top-up’ products
While not condoned from a ‘truth-inlabelling’ perspective, it is known that some producers buy in ‘top-up’ product from others when their sales outpace their production.
If you run out of your award-winning product and buy in additional product from another producer to sell under your own label (again, a practice not condoned by the AOA), that product cannot carry the medal decal as it is not the specific product which wins the award. Random checks
AIOA entrants should be aware that products are randomly checked and compared with winning samples to ensure industry best practice in terms of ongoing quality and labelling veracity. There are consequences for producers found to be marketing outside the guidelines above, including the risk of exclusion from entry into future competitions (and therefore future medal/trophy wins).
Future promotion
While you may not win medals every year, and therefore have new decals to display on your products, you naturally want to let consumers and other buyers know into the future that you make award-winning EVOO or other olive products. You can make your decals work for you there via your website and/or farm shop/farmers market stall promotional materials.
If you’ve won medals or trophies in previous years, sing it loud and proud with a listing and/or photo showing what you’ve won for which products in which years – something like the examples above.
That way your win will provide ongoing promotional value into the future, without misleading consumers about the accolade status of your current products.
Likewise for OliveCare® certification logos
And please remember that the same rules apply for OliveCare® certification logos, which can only be used on the specific product for which information has been provided and certification gained. In other words, last year’s certification is not valid for this year’s products.
More information
We hope this has made it pretty clear but if you’re still not quite sure about the appropriate usage of competition or OliveCare® certification logos on your products and marketing, you can contact AOA CEO and OliveCare® Administrator Michael Southan – E: olivecare@ australianolives.com.au or M: 0476 760 160 - and he’ll help with clarification.
UNACCEPTABLE USE AND APPLICATIONS
Do not alter the medal artwork or logo in proportion or colour. Below are some examples of unacceptable presentations:
DO NOT
outline the logo.
DO NOT
modify the proportion of the artwork.
DO NOT
modify the year on the medal artwork.
DO NOT
make changes or additions to the artwork.
The AIOA further reserves the right to withdraw the right to use the artwork–– and/or decals at their discretion, should the exhibitor participate in behaviour or become associated with anything or situation which the AOA feels does not align with AOA principles. This includes but is not limited to unethical conduct, misleading behaviour or any other behaviour the AOA considers brings the AOA into disrepute.
Safeguarding the integrity of the Australian International Olive Awards is of immense importance to the If you’re not sure about decal usage, you can check the Australian International Olive Awards Logo and Medal Decal Guidelines, available to download on the AIOA website – Australian Olive Association. The AOIA reserves the right to randomly audit the use of the award decals and artwork. www.internationaloliveawardsaustralia.com.au. For more information or clarification on Australian International Olive Awards logo and medal decal guidelines please contact the competition convenor on aioa@australianolives.com.au or the AOA secretariat secretariat@australianolives.com.au.
PO Box 3012, Allambie Heights LPO Allambie Heights NSW 2100
TELEPHONE
+614 78606145
secretariat@australianolives.com.au
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