Agbiolab congratulates Nancy Ash, olive oil consultant, for the Pioneer Award.

June 1, 2012 - PRLog -- Agbiolab congratulates Nancy Ash who received the Pioneer Award from the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) on March 2012. The honor bestowed to her was in recognition of her advocacy for the California olive oil industry since 1996, working then with pioneering olive oil producers.

Nancy has more than 15 years of experience in olive oil tasting in the US and abroad. In 2005 she was certified as Taste Panel Supervisor by ONAOO, at the University of Imperia, Italy. She has developed a taste panel and national competition in Albania under the funding of USAID and currently works with Palestinian oil producers under the umbrella of the World Bank Group.

In the US, Nancy has been member of the COOC and the UC Davis Taste Panels and the Lead Judge for the COOC annual competition. She has been mentor to apprentices and an educator and consultant to growers, retailers and food professionals, as owner of Strictly Olive Oil .

Since late 2010 Nancy has been working with Agbiolab in the sensorial assessment to complement laboratory analysis of extra virgin olive oil. USDA standards for Extra Virgin olive oil sold in the US state that the oil must have low Free Fatty Acids Peroxide Value, UV absorbance . And it must be free of sensorial  or organoleptic defects, and have some positive attributes, like fruitiness. This sensorial assessment is performed by trained tasters following standard protocols.

We at Agbiolab are delighted to work with Nancy, a well recognized professional olive oil taster.


Agbiolab is an independent agricultural consulting company, also providing olive oil quality analysis as well as plant pathogen and genetic testing.

Agbiolab customers are olive oil producers, importers, buyers, nurseries and growers requiring plant disease, genetic, traceability or adulteration testing using ELISA and DNA fingerprinting by PCR. We work with arborists and pest control advisors. Our initial focus has been on perennials, including olive, grapevine, prunes and almonds; our list of crops is constantly expanding.