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.

Tomaso, after extensive experience in various companies as a Manager and Executive, and now as a consultant, driven by curiosity and a strong passion for this wonderful product, olive oil, decided to undertake a training program aimed at deepening his knowledge and refining his tasting technique. To do this, he turned to the world’s leading and most prestigious school of sensory analysis, the ONAOO. He initially enrolled in the Official Technical Course and obtained the Certificate of Physiological Suitability for Tasting in May 2018.

Guy started his educational path with the technical course at ONAOO in 2021 and ended in 2024 by earning the qualification of professional taster. During this period, he further expanded his skillset by attending courses at other institutes in Italy and at the New York Olive Oil Times, obtaining certification as an olive oil sommelier.

He is the owner of “Frantoiani”, a company specialising in the selection and importation of high-quality extra virgin olive oil from various regions in Italy. The company’s product range includes approximately 20 artisanal producers and 45 labels, enabling Guy to provide advice to enthusiasts and gourmets through direct sales in his store in Mechelen, Belgium, and through his e-commerce platform. The company also supplies restaurants and wine shops with fine Italian olive oils.

Additionally, Guy is an expert in the field, regularly conducting masterclasses on extra virgin olive oil and food pairing for both private and commercial audiences, as well as culinary schools. His passion for olive oil drives him to share his knowledge and introduce people to this fascinating and flavourful world. In addition to his oil business, Guy owns a winery under the brand name “Suedtiroler” and serves as a forensic accountant.

Marco’s academic credentials—a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Banking, a Master’s degree in Family Mediation, and twenty years of work at a banking institution—did not dissuade him from pursuing a new career path in 2016.

His roots were firmly planted in his family’s olive grove in upper Tuscia (meaning the Viterbese area and generally upper Lazio). From an early age, this location represented leisure, feasting, and conviviality during the harvesting and oil production seasons.

As he matured, he embarked on a new adventure with the goal of emulating his Etruscan ancestors, the first true ambassadors of the culture of olive oil of exceptional quality. He pursued his education primarily through the large family of ONAOO and in March 2022, he graduated as a Professional Taster.

For the past three years, he has been based in Bavaria, where he runs a business offering both advisory services to specialty retailers and restaurateurs and the import and sale of high-quality extra virgin olive oil.