Elena Tordi, the daughter of olive oil producers who have not been active since the 90s, represents the fourth generation of a family with a long-standing tradition in the art of olive cultivation. Born in Orvieto, Umbria, she has lived in Milan for over forty years.
As the administrative manager, she is a partner in her husband Daniele Arduino’s family business, “A Nolo Auto 1956”, which specializes in chauffeur services. The company serves prestigious clients, including five-star hotels and embassies from countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Since 2013, Elena has been a food writer and food blogger, deeply passionate about the culinary arts.
She is the author of the blog “Lumachella e Panettone”, where she shares stories about food, traditions, and the regions of Italy. Her passion for communication led her to study social media and web strategies at A.C. Academy. Olive oil, which holds deep personal significance for Elena due to its connection with her family’s past, has taken on a new meaning in her professional journey. Embracing the famous quote by the philosopher Socrates, “I know that I know nothing,” she embarked on a continuous path of learning and development in the field. She began reading books and attending conferences dedicated to olive oil, meeting Luigi Caricato, an oleologist, writer, and journalist, who became her guide in the world of olive oil.
In 2019, at the Olio Officina Festival, she discovered the ONAOO (National Organization of Olive Oil Tasters) school, an encounter that marked a significant step in her career. In 2022, she earned the certification in Physiological Suitability for Olive Oil Tasting and continued her studies with an advanced course that ended in 2024 by becoming a professional taster. Since February 2024, Elena has been listed in the national registry of technicians and experts in virgin and extra virgin olive oils, Lombardy section.
Her passion for olive oil and the olive tree has become a symbol of strength, values, and traditions, all of which were passed down to her by her mother Nives and her father Luigi, who instilled in her a deep love for this extraordinary world.
Professional Taster since 2024
Özden Gözlüklü Saka, a graduate of Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir with a degree in Business Administration, completed an MBA at the University of Sunderland’s London campus.
She currently serves on the executive committee of the Women Entrepreneurs of the Aydın Chamber of Industry and is also a member of the Women in Agriculture cooperative in Kuşadası/Aydın. She maintains her professional involvement with her family business, HAUS Centrifuge Technologies, a manufacturer of olive oil extraction machines in Turkey.
The company, which is a leading industry benchmark, is now in its third generation of family ownership. As a key member of the family business, she played a pivotal role in establishing a state-of-the-art olive oil production and research and development facility in Kuşadası/Aydın. Additionally, Özden is the founder and manager of the Defnelia extra virgin olive oil brand, which is distributed both in-store at the factory and through an online sales platform.
She takes great pride in being able to explain to her customers the importance of quality olive oil, a topic that has been a lifelong interest of hers, beginning with her childhood when she helped her mother with the olive harvest. Her personal connection to the product prompts her to appreciate the significant effort and dedication required to harvest and process olives into olive oil, a process she considers highly valuable. Özden completed her training, having begun the ONAOO technical course in 2022 in Palermo. In 2024, she earned the qualification of professional taster, which will strengthen her commitment to the industry. It will also allow her to further deepen and raise awareness of tasting techniques and interpretation of olive oil’s organoleptic characteristics.
Manuela was born in Genoa but spent her entire childhood in Imperia. She currently resides between Imperia, Shanghai, and Bangkok.
She represents the fourth generation of can makers and is actively involved in the “Guatelli Museum”, which houses the Family Collection of Italian Olive Oil Cans. This collection comprises over 6,000 pieces of olive oil cans and lithographic stones, which provide important evidence of the flourishing industry related to the oil trade that developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
In 2006, Manuela relocated to Asia with her husband and four sons. Despite the distance, she has not forgotten her roots. She has promoted the prestige of extra virgin olive oil, the history and flavors of Mediterranean cuisine beyond national borders through organizing Italian cooking classes, on-demand chefs and catering.
Her passion for extra virgin olive oil has its roots in her family; in fact, her father dedicated his life to the production of oil cans. My father, who crossed Europe every week to sell his cans, would return home on weekends with stories and anecdotes about this fascinating industry.
Having a global vision of the oil market, he could grasp even the smallest nuances of it, which made me want to be part of this wonderful world. In recent years, she finally managed to crown her passion by attending the ONAOO Course and becoming a Professional Taster in 2024. Manuela is actively engaged with several Italian associations abroad, promoting the history, culture, and art of extra virgin olive oil tasting on a global scale.
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.
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
