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.

Professional Taster since 1991 and Auditor of O.N.A.O.O.

Since 2017, she’s been a professional olive oil taster for ONAOO. She’s also an olive oil and wine sommelier, a passionate foodie, and an avid traveler. Liana is a former lawyer who has been in the food import business for 12 years.

She started her company, ITALISKO SKONIO GURMANAI Ltd., in Italy, focusing on extra virgin olive oil. She also opened three specialised Italian gourmet stores and an e-commerce store in Lithuania. Ten years ago, she set up the first olive oil school in Lithuania. She also puts on events, courses, tastings, and tasting dinners, as well as promoting olive oil culture.

She represents more than 25 quality olive oil producers from the world’s best ranking in Lithuania. Liana and her company ITALISKO SKONIO GURMANAI Ltd. were absolutely thrilled to be awarded by International olive oil guide Flos Olei as the best Importer in the world of the year 2016!

Born in a country where butter is king and mayonnaise is queen, I was pleasantly surprised by the magnificent taste and pleasantness of extra virgin olive oil during my holidays in south east Crete in the 80s.

At the time, I was working in the product engineering sector in a multinational company, but I was ready for a change.

I started importing this delicious product and I set myself the challenge of letting the people who love butter in my country taste this gift of nature. As a pilot, I knew it was possible to fly without an engine, but not without knowledge and skills. I quickly realized that additional support was needed to achieve my goals.

So I knocked on ONAOO’s door. Thanks to the dedication of the teachers, I embarked on a fascinating 3-year learning path.

I enjoyed developing my skills and knowledge and thanks to this support I have seen my business grow. Through retail, restaurant, direct sales and the web shop, I distribute two superb brands of extra-virgin olive oil, one Greek and one Spanish. “Olijfwinkel.be” is my starting point, alongside my company “Techtel.be”.