Benza Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Benza BuonOlio is made from 100% Taggiasca, the most common olive of the Imperia province on the coast of Liguria, and the source of the region’s signature delicate, balanced olive oil. The Taggiasca olive thrives in Liguria's gentle, temperate seaside climate and calcium-rich soil. But olive oil production here is far from easy; groves are perched on terraced hills inaccessible to modern harvest equipment, so the olives must be picked by hand. Many farmers have abandoned their groves, leaving the landscape in decline and vulnerable to brush fires.

Our producer, Gigi Benza, is passionate about protecting and improving his region and its renowned olive groves, and embarked on a project of landscape restoration by buying abandoned olive groves and returning them to their original production capacity. Gigi is the latest in a long line of committed olive oil producers; the Benza family has been making olive oil in the Ligurian Riviera since the 16th century. They have been commercially producing their oil since 1853; today, Gigi and his mother oversee the production, but one thing has not changed - their unwavering commitment to quality.

“My parents taught me that a good oil comes from a highly scrupulous production process,” explains Gigi. “But also, and above all, from quality olives - that’s why I personally look after them from the time the plants flower until the harvest.”