Artisan Italian Olive Oil Producers Go to Extremes to Please Discerning Gourmet Palates.

A three-century-old olive oil producer - the Minervini family located in the Apulia region of southern Italy - implemented extreme measures to produce organic olive oil under the Marcinase Company name resulting in prestigious worldwide awards.

"Marcinase dedicated more than 25 years," said Vito De Carolis, a partner in Avanti Savoia, an U.S.-based Italian fine food's importer, "to guaranteeing the purity of the soil for the organic olives. Additionally, the company enclosed the soil with a border of more than 1,000 feet. These olive trees are protected from insecticides and chemical fertilizers which may drift from neighboring orchard spraying."

In addition, Marcinase chose to use a variety of healthy herbs grown as groundcover and periodically turned back into the soil to act as a natural fertilizer. In 1997, the company began producing pure organic olive oil that is continuously checked and inspected satisfying European Union (EU) regulations. As a result, the Marcinase Fruttato Intenso, carries the Organic Farming and Origin logos, which ensure that it has been organically produced, comes directly from the producer in a sealed package, and bears the names of the producer and inspection body.

DeCarolis said that other extreme measures taken included:

* flushing the olive press system with 250 gallons of organic oil before processing

* revisiting each tree several times and handpicking each olive as it matures

* using small containers for field transport to protect the fruit from being crushed.

"When we started Avanti Savoia two years ago," Doug Slocum, An Avanti Savoia partner said, "we based it upon my former working relationship with Vito who lives in Torino, Italy. We spent 15 years and more than 30 business trips traveling Italy and the world together in an unrelated industry. When we left that business, we both knew that there was an opportunity to represent the finest food products from Italy in the U.S. Also, we knew that most of the really fine food products were coming from the smaller, but more selective and particular producers.

"When we began looking at the olive oil market," Slocum said, "we sent out 160 requests for information and received 57 samples of olive oil. After tasting and reviewing the materials, five companies, including the Marcinase Company, were selected for representation in the U.S. by Avanti Savoia."

Maria Massari, wife of Gregorio Minervini, is the owner of the Marcinase Company. The company has a total of 3,000 olive trees on about 42 acres. Avanti Savoia seeks out companies like Marcinase to represent its culinary categories, which include balsamic vinegar, pasta, spices and sauces, sea salts, truffles, honey and jelly, teas, chocolates, and new additions.