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”.

Giovanni was born and raised in Caserta. His roots and love for his land led Giovanni to open a modern business at the foot of the Trebulani Mountains in Pontelatone (Caserta). Through path of recovery, protection, and enhancement of the most significant and ancient olive specimens, he encourages the development of marginal areas, fulfilling a remarkable biodiversity defense function.

In 2018, he enrolled in the Official Technical Course of the ONAOO School, passing the selective tests and obtaining the Certificate of Physiological Suitability. In 2019, he decided to pursue a more in-depth training path, enrolling in the Advanced Course. He passed the final exams in 2021 and obtained the ONAOO Professional Taster qualification.

He also participated in various activities organized by the School, including the ONAOO Meeting in 2020 and online tasting sessions.

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!

Stig has been Senior Brand Manager at Haugen-Gruppen AS, the largest food import company in Norway.

He has worked in the food sector for more than 25 years, in companies such as Nestlé, Mars, and Haugen-Gruppen AS. He started working with olive oil in 2000 when he joined Haugen-Gruppen as a Key Account Manager. He sold olive oil to the main retail chains in Norway. For 15 years he has been a brand manager in the retail sector.

For 3 years he has been a brand manager in the food service sector. In 2015, he took a technical course for olive oil tasters and started training to become a professional taster. He has participated in international meetings for “ONAOO tasters” since 2017.

He has taken part in many olive harvests and presses in Spain, Italy and Greece in the last 12 years to get to know the different “cultures” of olive oil production (from small producers to large ones) and to understand the differences. He has been teaching Norwegians about olive oil by tasting it with managers of big companies, shop managers, journalists, salespeople, and others. He now runs his own company, Lukt, Smak og Nyt (Smell, Taste and Enjoy), teaching consumers how to select and use extra virgin olive oil.