On April 15, we celebrate National Made in Italy Day, an opportunity to honour the excellences that make our country unique. Among them, olive oil stands out as a symbol of our agricultural tradition, combining quality, health, and sustainability, while telling the story of the richness of our land and the olive oil craftsmanship that has made us renowned around the world.

Olive oil is the quintessential product of the Mediterranean Diet – the healthiest dietary model in the world. Beyond its health benefits, olive oil embodies a range of values that make it a true icon of Made in Italy: landscapes, traditions, people, flavours, aromas, lifestyles, cultures, and much more. No other product encapsulates so many powerful symbols that evoke our beautiful country. Italy boasts a level of biodiversity unmatched by any other producing country, even those with higher production volumes. With over 500 olive cultivars, Italy offers an extraordinary variety of sensory profiles.

But Italy also holds another record: its expertise in olive oil, part of the unique Italian know-how that has brought olive oil to global recognition. Thanks to these skills, the Italian olive oil sector can respond to alternating harvests and raw material shortages by selecting the finest oils from different producing countries and creating blends tailored to the preferences of diverse international market.

Italian olive groves supply about a quarter of the country’s total needs, considering both domestic consumption and export. In recent years, consumption trends have shifted significantly toward extra virgin olive oil, which, in addition to its content of monounsaturated fatty acids, is rich in antioxidants – particularly polyphenols and vitamin E.

Scientific research in the medical field has been ongoing for decades, making extra virgin olive oil the most studied food in relation to human health. It is also the only food whose cardioprotective properties have been unequivocally proven. Other potential benefits – such as cancer prevention, reduced risks of diabetes, and protection against neurodegenerative diseases – are currently being investigated, with highly promising preliminary results.

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