Santagata, Sommariva, De Cecco: tales of families, companies and olive oil

Three Italian companies with glorious history and a focus on the future, prepared for a “nouvelle vague” of the Olive Oil production, completely Italian. With Cristina Santagata, moderated by Luigi Caricato on the stage of OliOfficina – which is the most innovative and influential Italian event dedicated to the oil of olives and its culture – in the section on new trends, Agostino Sommariva of “Sommariva Agricola Tradition” and Marco Camplone of “De Cecco”, compare their experiences and their awareness of the difficulties of the system and market trends.

The debate focused on the bounds with the past and the importance of enhancing traditions. The Italian experience and professionalism in the world of olive oil have deep roots, but at the same time need to break with the past to overcome some errors, such as the inability to make an integrated system. The recall is a tradition that has to be reconstructed and retold starting from the role of each part of the chain (production, distribution, sales and tasting).

The information on the oil is in fact very poor and often “against it”. An information that when it is done in a correct and conscious way could easily impress the audience. This is the case of chefs who bring the bottle to the table to raise awareness about the product that is not just a seasoning but it is culture (in Italy we have over 500 different cultivars and an incredible wealth in olive oil between pairings and dishes). As well as this is the case of the tasting sessions organized at OliOfficina and specifically dedicated to the “non-experts”: rooms full, sold-out, enthusiastic people focused to find the right words to describe the flavors and bouquets they taste.

There is much to be done in order to spread the culture of oil, but many protagonist of this “world” are willing to go straight forward. OliOfficina is one of the steps of this path.