Seven hundred and seventy companies reviewed across the entire country; 1211 oils reviewed out of over 1500 tasted, 573 of which are certified organic; 130 brand-new products (3 more than last year); 244 awards demonstrating the quality of Italian extra virgin olive oil, including Grandi Oli and Grandi Oli Slow; 51 snails recognizing companies that best embody Slow Food values; 228 oils from the Slow Food Presidium of Ancient Olive Trees, a slight increase; 106 companies with restaurants and 170 with accommodations: these, in eloquent summary, are the figures that distinguish the 2026 edition of the Slow Food Guide to Italian Ex-Virgin Olive Oils, a guide that captures one of the fundamental treasures of Italian nutraceutical biodiversity and, at the same time, a production sector of the highest caliber. It is intended as an invitation to visit these businesses and bring producers and consumers together.
"How best to tell the story of Italy's olive oil heritage? This is the question," explains Francesca Baldereschi, the volume's editor, "we ask ourselves every year when we design the Guide: a publication designed to accompany the reader in discovering the regions through olive farms and the extraordinary heritage of cultivars that characterize Italian production. I firmly believe that this Guide is not just a reference tool, but also a concrete invitation to travel, promoting a true olive oil tourism journey capable of connecting landscapes, people, and olive oil culture. We have always maintained that the most authentic way to discover this heritage is to meet the protagonists, to observe up close the often centuries-old olive groves that shape our landscape and continue to resist intensive and impactful agricultural models. At the same time, we believe it is essential to educate people about quality: learning to recognize a good extra virgin olive oil, practicing mindful tasting, and training the senses to capture aromas and nuances that tell stories and territories. Only in this way can this extraordinary heritage be truly understood and appreciated."
A heritage of identity, central to our diet, about which we still know too little, dominated by too many clichés that should be dispelled by promoting a true culture of oil. Oil and wine are always a point of reference when it comes to highlighting the iconic products of our agriculture, yet in promotional and communication activities, oil always takes a back seat.
The awards that reveal the tenacity and resistance of olive growers, the exaltation of local cultivars, the innovation and culture of the territory
This year's awards: the special prize dedicated to the memory of Diego Soracco—a leader of Slow Food since the association's inception, a passionate olive oil expert, and longtime editor of the Guide—dedicated to those who make tenacity and perseverance the hallmarks of their olive oil production, was awarded to Tommaso Masciantonio of Casoli (Chieti) for his concrete and personal vision of Abruzzo olive growing. The fifth generation, active since 1874, he has combined family heritage with independent choices. He relaunched the pure Intosso when few believed in it: without chasing trends, but building quality over time.
Other awards highlight individuals and projects that promote the peninsula's olive growing world and best represent Slow Food's commitment to the future of Italian extra virgin olive oil. These include those who have successfully cultivated and promoted local cultivars, sometimes little-known to the general public. With the support of BioDea, the Romanella di Padula from Tenute del Caricaturo in Padula (Sa), the Fidusa from Roberto Ceraudo in Strongoli Marina (Kr), and the Orbetana from L'Olinda in San Marcello (Ancona) were recognized. "The partnership with Slow Food," emphasized Francesco Barbagli, CEO of Bio-Esperia, owner of the BioDea brand, which actively participates in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil Guide, recognizing outstanding products that share a responsible agricultural approach, "represents a natural affinity of vision: protection of biodiversity, quality of production, and respect for the soil. This concrete commitment also translates into measurable environmental benefits, contributing to the reduction and sequestration of CO₂."
The second group of award winners, selected together with the Saida Group, recognizes those who for decades have dedicated themselves to cultivating their passion, olive trees, even in challenging environments, engaging with socially responsible organizations and contributing to the growth of the culture of quality extra virgin olive oil. This year, the award goes to Il Fontanaro in Paciano (Perugia), run by the Pinelli family, which welcomes travelers by offering an authentic immersion in local traditions, food, wine, and extra virgin olive oil culture; Viaggiare su un filo d'olio di Val Paradiso, which transforms the olive groves of the Pasquale Di Lorenzo prison in Agrigento into an opportunity for redemption and social reintegration; and Terre di Ancuria in Fara in Sabina (Rimini), where young Debora Bernardini left molecular genetics to dedicate herself to olive growing.
Finally, the final group of award winners highlights young people who are distinguishing themselves through their ability to innovate, cultivar care, and attention to quality, offering a fresh and promising vision for the future of Italian extra virgin olive oil. Two award winners: Giulia Zampiccoli of Laghel 7 Agritur in Arco (TN), who has created an environment that combines olive growing, nature, animals, and immersive hospitality, and Emmanuel Sanarica, a young man in Montemesola (TA) whose oil promotes heroic agriculture and supports the local economy.
In keeping with the philosophy of the Guide and the awards it receives, the Guide was presented this year at the Torri del Benaco Oil Festival, which features numerous tasting booths and Taste Workshops.
The work Torri del Benaco is doing to safeguard a profession and its olive trees—emphasizes Federico Varazi, vice president of Slow Food Italy—is essential to be implemented at the national level with an olive oil plan that includes constructive engagement with a sector facing serious difficulties due to the climate crisis and the abandonment of olive trees. This essential heritage for our gastronomy and a harbinger of great opportunities is now facing a crucial phase. Cultivating the land is once again at the heart of the ecological transition. Focusing on olive growing and, more generally, on quality agriculture and biodiversity cannot be considered a nostalgic choice, but a concrete way of living in modernity. With its 530 native cultivars, Italian olive growing is an extraordinary laboratory of biodiversity and resilience and a unique heritage. Here, the quality of extra virgin olive oil is not a goal, but a daily process born from the ecosystemic balance between humanity and nature, the intertwining of production and culture, and the economy and vision of the future. Entire generations of producers are making all this possible. They are custodians of biodiversity, now more than ever, in a time marked by the climate crisis and the fragility of agricultural systems that often operate in territories defined as marginal, yet preserve a wealth that has already disappeared elsewhere: biodiversity. This is why we must avoid all rhetoric. Biodiversity is not a slogan: it is not defended with words, nor at conferences. It is defended by creating the conditions so that those who safeguard it can continue to do so. The gap between the cultural value we recognize and the economic value we attribute to it remains too great.
