“Olive oil is not an agricultural trade, it is a product of Love and Faith”.
Born in Baassir (Lebanon), one of the oldest countries to ever produce olive oil in the world, Ibrahim Al Kaakour is continuing an over 300 year old family legacy in the cultivation of olive oil.
Graduate of Electrical and Computer Engineering from the American University of Beirut and a holder of an Executive MBA with a focus on finance from Ésa/ESCP Europe, Ibrahim did not let his daily routine sway him from becoming a professional taster and a master blender/producer of olive oil.
To give homage to both his paternal Lebanese and maternal Greek Heritage, He currently owns two brands that he developed under his company LGOO with a luxury line of exquisite blends of olive oil, honey and many other organic products in state of the art branding.
Ibrahim is also keen on helping the local communities to improve the quality of olive oil and spread not only the know-who that he acquired as an olive oil sommelier, but also the culture, the roots and the love that he shares by hosting tasting sessions and introductory seminars in the olive oil center of the family Villa in the beautiful Mediterranean town of Baassir (a syriac aramian name that translates to “The House of Juice”).
From 2017 he is Member of ONAOO where he started his educational path. On January 2020 he concluded his studies by obtaining the Qualification of Professional Taster of ONAOO.

I do talks and public tastings for a variety of organisations including the UK Italian Trade Agency, FarmEd and prestigious cooking schools such as the Anna Tasca Lanza school in Sicily. I consult for food and olive farming businesses in the UK.

I am looking forward to sharing my experience in the UK, and to continue to learn with my colleagues at ONAOO.

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.

He was born in Genoa in 1966. In 1992, he founded the company “Lorenzo Costa fu Eugenio 1860”, of which he still is the administrator. The company deals with door-to-door sales of extra-virgin olive oil and other food products. In 1996, he was granted the certificate of Professional ONAOO taster.