Diversification Drives Olitalia’s Global Success as Italy’s Olive Oil Sector Evolves

Diversification is costly, but it allows us to grow.” In Italy, we lack backing compared with Spain. There is a need to invest in the trade and change the model completely. – Angelo Cremonini, CEO, Olitalia That flexibility has been central to Olitalia’s evolution from a regional supplier into a global label. Founded more than 40 years ago, Olitalia started supplying seed and olive oils to restaurants on Italy’s Adriatic coast before expanding nationwide and into consumer turnover.

The firm now offloads about 30,000 tons of olive oil, mostly extra virgin sourced from Italy, Spain, Greece. Tunisia, in 120 countries. “ Each year is a different story, especially because of the change in the climate,” Cremonini stated. See Also: Filippo Berio Execs See Equilibrium Returning to The Global Olive Oil Market Throughout the year, Olitalia’s agronomists visit the business’s producing partners across the Mediterranean to check precipitation levels in the groves, the blossoming of the trees and how the fruit set evolves. Olitalia, headquartered in Forlì, forecasts to increase its purchases from Italian makers ahead of a bumper harvest. (Photo: Olitalia) “We try to obtain the whole picture of the crop in terms of quantity and quality, and choose the best extra virgin olive oil for our objectives, such as taste profile,” he explained.

As the harvest begins, Cremonini, his brother and a team of five others in addition travel to the partner mills to take samples and make deals. He added that adopting high-density and super-high-density groves where possible would as well make Italian production more efficient, noting that a mechanized gathering can save an average of €1 per kilogram of oil produced. Cremonini believes that priority should be given to adapting Italian cultivars to this system, such as Maurino, which has shown promise.

Even so, one of the limiting factors for planting more intensive olive groves in Italy is the relatively fragmented nature of the industry, which is mainly composed of small, family-run holdings. The restaurant owner will have to uptick rates or change the menu.” Camillo, Elisabetta and Angelo Cremonini have led Olitalia for more than 40 years. (Photo: Olitalia) The tariffs, which right now sit at 15 percent after being raised from the initial rate of ten percent, will as well raise prices in supermarkets in the coming months.

Still, Cremonini does not expect demand to weaken. “When prices were at a record high, we saw that consumption did not decrease in the United States,” he said. “The American consumer knows it’s a very healthy product. Olive oil demand in the U.S. is inelastic.” Along with the U.S. and Brazil, Cremonini told reporters East Asia has become one of the business’s core marketplaces, underscoring the role of education and awareness in driving consumption advance. It was only a matter of explaining the product’s benefits,” Cremonini added.

Indeed, some of the firm’s 2025/26 harvest will be sold in cobalt-blue glass bottles, which he stated were inspired by the blue tasting glasses used by professional olive oil judges to avoid color bias. Beyond marketplaces and education, Cremonini highlighted Olitalia’s commitment to lowering the company’s environmental footprint.

Even so, he emphasized that sustainability begins with economic viability. “It has to be sustainable from the economic point of view,” he told reporters, noting that the firm continues to use some plastic packaging to meet marketplace appetite. Going to Still, Cremonini, since 2018, Olitalia has shifted to bottles made entirely from recycled food-grade plastic.