Those times when clothes make the man: the excellence of extra virgin olive oil and the finest packaging rewarded by Vinitaly in 2022

We brought together in conversation the three winners of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil Packaging category at the 26th Vinitaly International Packaging Competition. They each explained the story behind the graphics project for their finished bottles of olive oil, with creative elements and, above all, the distinctive features that help make products even more highly-prized than they already are. The Gold Label was awarded to “Piante Sparse” Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2021 by Azienda Agricola Centanni Giacomo from the Marches Region. The graphics project is the work of Rossomura, Boutique Brand Design Agency based in Pescara. "The name Piante Sparse was borrowed from the dialect of the Marches Region: it means those plants growing in the middle of vineyards, in areas where farm workers rested in the shade after hours of intense manual work with the vines. This oil is a blend of three types of olive typical to the Marches Region: frantoio, leccino and carboncella. The special feature of this oil is that the plants are all quite distant from each other, rather than close together as in classic olive groves. The label depicts drops of oil in the relief part and the sticks depict stylized vineyards. Receiving this award was a huge satisfaction for our company that crowns our great dream of promoting our olive oil." The Silver Label for the extra virgin olive oil went to “Amor” Roma IGP 2021 by Frantoio Oleario F.lli Narducci. The graphic project was created by Alessandro Donati of the oil mill itself, in collaboration with Gabriele Cavalletti. "We wanted to ride the crest of the wave for the brand new Roma IGP certification. This is why entered one of our own olive oils in the competition. The name Roma has great appeal and is immensely famous all over the world. This is why we sought to create such an emphatic finished bottle for our extra virgin olive oil. The ceramic material was chosen to reflect and enhance our high quality standards. The packaging ensures total exclusion of light, while filling with nitrogen ensures safety by avoiding the risk of oxidation. In any case, ceramic is the most noble material that can be used for extra virgin olive oil packaging. The graphic studio initially proposed two distinct ideas which were then merged into the final project. The first is the "sanpietrino", a typical leucitite cobblestone used since ancient times to pave the streets of Rome. The name refers to St. Peter, the founder of the Church in Rome. Cobblestones are an historic symbol for us and part of the entire eternal city where we have walked thousands of times. The second idea was a Rome skyline with the most typical and characteristic sites in the Eternal City, almost as if it were an electrocardiogram highlighting the close correlation between the city and the heart. The Colosseum, Castel Sant'Angelo, St. Peter's, Eur and even my own home all appear in the final design of the skyline! The background colour is sage green, recalling the shades of our olive trees and very similar to Salviana, the cultivar most used in this oil. The name we gave to the bottle is AMOR di ROMA, precisely to emphasise the two meanings when read right-to-left or left-to-right. How can we not think about AMOR when in ROMA... and vice versa? Winning a medal at Vinitaly was a bolt from the blue: I absolutely did not expect it. I had already won the Tonino Zelinotti fine packaging award and we win prizes every year for the quality of our olive oils. Yet, the joy this Vinitaly award has given me is incomparable. A huge satisfaction that I hope will help marketing and sales of our extra virgin olive oil. The aim was to create an immediately recognizable finished bottle distinct from all the others (there are new bottles and new brands everywhere), and this award confirms our intentions. I hope that Vinitaly will be a great springboard for us, since we are a young company on the market only for four years. The Bronze Label went to "Mauré" Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Azienda Agricola Venti-Cinque di Michele Porfido, with graphics by Stefano Bracci Our label took its inspiration from our origins. The action of detaching a sticker from the label comes from the gesture that our grandfather, Roberto di Maurè, made all his life - pulling equisetum, the Italian horsetail, from the ground. Once the sticker is removed, only bare earth will remain. The effect is achieved by rippling the paper. The sticker reveals the company logo - a line of succession symbolising the distance and bond between our generation and that of our grandparents. Winning an award on entering the competition for the first participation and with the first product made by our company is without question recognition of the work by the whole team, as well as an honour that encourages us to achieve even better results in the future.