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.

David began his journey with Olive Oil in 1985 as a Chef Commis at The Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC, USA. After five years in hotel Food and Beverage and another six in Organic and Specialty Food retail, ending at Whole Foods Markets as Director of Grocery, he entered food manufacturing, spending ten years as an Executive for the leading organic cereal company in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

In early 2006 and for the next nine years, he was President and Partner of Lucini Italia®, based in Miami, Florida, which he grew to be the premier quality Italian Olive Oil in America. David continued his passion for EVOO by founding EVOOGuy.com(R), a consultancy. Focused 100% on best–in–class Extra Virgin Olive Oils. At the same time, launching his own EVOO brand, established a Tasting Tour using a custom-designed Olive Oil truck, lecturing, and continuing to share his knowledge via his Olive Oil 101 platform. He found a partnership with the Mediterranean Diet Round (MDR) Table in 2020, a think tank to support awareness about curated EVOOs. This included a tasting class with Yale University and 100 of their students as well as numerous tasting events in New York and Notre Dame University.

Olive Oil clients David has helped build their brand and business in the USA include: Deoleo (Carapelli/Italian), Casas De Hualdo (Spanish), Oleama (Turkish), Oz Organics (Turkish), Mis Raices (Spanish), Valderamma (Spanish) and many more.

David’s first book, Extra Virgin Olive Oil—The Truth In Your Kitchen (Morgan James Publishing 2022), is available in paperback and endorsed by notable Olive Oil author, Tom Mueller, is also available as an e-book and audiobook on all the usual platforms. He has been featured on Martha Stewart, Kelly Clarkson Show, MSNBC, PBS, and many other media outlets, teaching how to taste and evaluate EVOO properly.

His participation is vast in the Olive Oil field, included many years of study at the oldest Olive Oil school in the world; O.N.A.O. O (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Olio di Oliva) based in Imperia, Italy, an International Olive Council Accredited school. His designation as a trained Panel Taster and ONAOO Level 1 Technical Taster in 2012, as well as rising to a Professional Taster in Good Standing, 2018 – Present.

Today, David continues to use his vast knowledge in the Olive Oil world as a C-level executive for Millpress Imports / Seasons brand, based in Bethlehem, PA, and their Estate in Jaen, Spain.

Nicola Lotito, born in 1960, Lives in Andria (BT). Nicola has been employed by Azienda Pellegrino S.r.l. since 1990, where he currently serves as Technical Manager in the production sector.

In addition to his managerial duties, Nicola oversees bottling operations with a small team of collaborators. In 1991, he attended the extra virgin olive oil tasting course organized by ONAOO, and in 1992, he obtained the diploma of professional taster with mention of merit. Since 2015, he has been included in the Apulia Region’s Master Oilman Register.

Since 1992, Nicola has attended refresher courses for oil tasters. He participates in numerous trade fairs and workshops and also organizes farm incoming for national and foreign delegations and for schools of different orders. Nicola is a member of the national project “BIMBOIL,” for which he coordinates and facilitates tasting classes for elementary schools.