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.
Osman, who is passionate about olives and olive oil, grew up in Izmir, one of the major olive producing regions of Turkey.
He has extensive experience in blending and sensory evaluation in the tobacco business since 1996 and is currently a master blender and panel leader in a leading global tobacco company. In 2019, he decided to expand his sensory knowledge in olive oil with ONAOO’s technical course.
After two years of training, he obtained the qualification of Professional Taster of ONAOO in 2023. He provides consultancy to farmers and olive oil producers in Turkey and product experience in Switzerland.
Leonidas Komvokis is a resident and business owner in Drama, East Macedonia and Thrace.
He is an agricultural and olive entrepreneur. He is an olive pruner and has participated in several professional olive pruning courses organized by the A.S.S.A.M. School (Marche). In 2016, Leonidas became a member of ONAOO, where he began his training. In January 2020, he completed his studies by obtaining the Professional Taster Qualification.
Leonidas believes that a deep understanding of the elements of olive oil quality is an effective way forward in the field of olive growing and entrepreneurship. He provides olive oil quality consulting services as well as olive tree pruning and management services on a contract basis. In recent years, the company has focused on developing a project with the planting of 20 hectares of organic olive trees and varieties exclusively indigenous to the area.
The goal is to highlight these varieties and create monovarietal oils of unique quality, showcasing the quality characteristics of the area and the POLYCONIC VASE-shaped management model that can guarantee the highest quality of olive oil. Quality is a core value that guides our commitment to the environment, consumers, and the reputation of our organization, which is represented by the ONAOO.
Danielle was born in England, but she has lived in Italy for over 35 years.
After obtaining a degree in history, she began working in tourism. Her passion for olives started with the olive grove around her hotel on Lake Como. Later, due to a challenge with her husband, she decided to open an olive mill high in the mountains at 1816 meters in Livigno. From there, she began her adventure in the world of extra virgin olive oil with her company “O’Liv”.
Prior to establishing the company, he attended ONAOO’s technical course in 2020 to expand his knowledge.
During the course, she developed a passion for oil tasting and qualified to join the national list of virgin and extra virgin olive oil technicians and experts in 2022. Following the two-year advanced training course, she became a professional olive oil taster in 2024. She frequently attends ONAOO’s tasting sessions as she believes that training is essential for personal and professional growth as a taster.
Alessandra has been studies in ONAOO since 2020. After the official technical course, which released her the Certificate of Physiological Suitability for tasting, and after the certified tasting session, she has been subscribed in the “The National Register of Technicians and Experts of Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive Oils” of Region Liguria since 2022.
In 2023, passing the exam of the 2-year advanced course, she obtained the qualification of ONAOO Professional Taster and she is in the International Register of Professional Tasters.
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
