Maria was born in Salento and lives between Busto Arsizio, Rome and San Remo. She has had a career in public administration for 28 years, in a municipality and a ministry.
Maria works freelance as a journalist, PR, communicator, writer, event organizer. She has written books in teams and individually, and has edited several texts and volumes. She is a member of ONAOO and became a Professional Oil Taster at the ONAOO School in 2017.
She is also a chocolate taster in the Lindt panel. For the last six years she has been working in the oil industry as a producer, taster, communicator and event organizer.
Giuseppe was born in a small town in the province of Foggia, San Giovanni Rotondo.
For work reasons he moved to Campania, where he still lives today.
Strongly tied to the memories of his beloved Puglia, Giuseppe decides to open a farm to be able to carry on the family business to which his father has dedicated himself for more than 50 years; in the middle of the Tavoliere delle Puglie, every year 2,400 olive trees are finely selected in order to offer the best extra virgin olive oil.
In order to enrich his knowledge, Giuseppe decides to start his training course in the ONAOO School in 2018 and ended in 2021: after passing the exams of the Advanced Course, Giuseppe obtains the qualification of ONAOO Professional Taster.
In addition to the training activities, Giuseppe participated in the ONAOO Meeting in 2020 and other online tasting activities also organized by the School.
Marina has a degree in Food Preparation Sciences. She is currently the Quality Manager at the “Oleificio Pietro Coricelli S.p.A.”.
Marina deals with quality certifications, contacts with customers and consumers. It also deals with the surveillance of the quality of products and processes, the control of incoming oils from a sensorial point of view. She was also Head of Quality Assurance at “Carapelli Firenze” and Quality Manager of “Agnesi Spa” for the production of pasta in the Danone group. Marina has been an ONAOO Professional Taster since 2001.
Marina was the winner in 2015 of “THE GREAT CHALLENGE – THE WORLDWIDE OLIVE OIL TASTERS’ CHALLENGE” at the Milan EXPO. She regularly attends refresher courses organized by ONAOO of which she has also become a member of the Council in 2019.
He was born in Genoa in 1966. In 1992, he founded the company “Lorenzo Costa fu Eugenio 1860”, of which he still is the administrator. The company deals with door-to-door sales of extra-virgin olive oil and other food products. In 1996, he was granted the certificate of Professional ONAOO taster.
Alia has added a new skill to her culinary & gastronomy portfolio, being the first Egyptian female chef to hold a certificate as an advanced professional olive oil taster & sommelier from ONAOO Scuola in Liguria, Italy (The National Organization of Olive Oil Tasters).
Through her tasting skills & extensive practice, Alia has started a wave of awareness & tasting events across Cairo by partnering up with premium Egyptian olive oil brands as well as taking it internationally via harvest retreats/gastro-tourism across the Mediterranean.
Guests, chefs & enthusiasts are invited to explore the world of extra virgin olive oil by understanding the harvest process, touring olive groves, doing professional tasting sessions to look out for flavor notes & positive attributes of the different oil varieties and taste and pair each variety with different dishes through her curated menus.
I am very looking forward to continuing my educational journey into the world of olive oil with ONAOO and its network of tasters and professionals in the field, and also look forward to also educating more clients through my work.
Maria was born in Salento and lives between Busto Arsizio, Rome and San Remo. She has had a career in public administration for 28 years, in a municipality and a ministry.
Maria works freelance as a journalist, PR, communicator, writer, event organizer. She has written books in teams and individually, and has edited several texts and volumes. She is a member of ONAOO and became a Professional Oil Taster at the ONAOO School in 2017.
She is also a chocolate taster in the Lindt panel. For the last six years she has been working in the oil industry as a producer, taster, communicator and event organizer.
Training as professional olive oil tasters is not only a personal pleasure: the universe that revolves around olive oil and its supply chain also offers a wide range of job, growth and specialization opportunities.
The advanced course allows you to consolidate and deepen your knowledge of oil tasting and obtain the qualification of ONAOO Professional Taster, but above all, to be included in the "International Register of Professional Tasters".
Participants learn about varieties, processing, and sensory tasting, with practical exercises under the guidance of experts.
Participants are invited to recognize strengths, weaknesses, qualities and organoleptic characteristics of the various oils