Tuscany is a perfect balance of nature and art, beauty of the land and climate. It is here that an excellent extra virgin olive oil is born. The variety of the olive trees and the techniques of cultivation, harvesting of the olives at the right stage of ripeness and meticulous workmanship, combine to create an incomparable product, recognizable in flavour, which brings with it all the nuances of this land. That's why Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil IGP produced throughout the region is characterized by its own specific feature, which can slightly alter different accents of taste: Toscano IGP, Toscano IGP Hills of Arezzo, Toscano IGP Hills of Florence, Toscano IGP Hills of Lunigiana, Toscano IGP of Montalbano, Toscano IGP of the mountains of Pisa.
The real 'Tuscan'
The Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil producers’ association is the region’s agricultural and economical most important consortium structure and, besides having particularly strict procedural guidelines in accordance with domestic and international standards, it holds the national record in the sector for the quantities certified amounting to more than 40%. It was formed in 1977 and in 1988 it obtained the Protected Geographical Indication (IGP) acknowledgement for the denomination ‘Tuscan’. It counts more than 11.000 members spread throughout the region; its members represent the entire production chain including producers, oil mills and packers, thus including 70% of the Tuscan oil mills and 22% of the 50.000 and more producers (a large part of which are, however, very small and excluded from the market as they are auto-consumers).
The statutory mission, besides all that is connected with the traceability and certification of its members’ product, also includes the valorization and the promotion of the Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil IGP on the domestic and foreign markets. Furthermore, the Consortium promotes good practice aimed at introducing an increasing number of regional producers to the logic of quality and achieving the ambitious goal of certifying the majority of the Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil production for domestic and foreign consumption.
Each bottle of Tuscan Extra Virgin IGP is well recognizable by the label around the neck of the bottle with the alphanumeric code that allows to rebuild the entire supply chain, providing maximum transparency and security. The oil that has passed the vetting traceability process, the chemical and organoleptic (oil tasting) inspections as determined by the production regulations, may use the name and to be packaged as IGP. The packaging step is mandatory within the Tuscany region.
All over the world
The aroma and unmistakable flavour of this oil is emerging mainly abroad, primarily in the United States and Canada and with slow but growing progression towards Eastern markets : China and Japan above all, followed by Brazil, Russia and India.
Tuscan Olive oil IGP is sold in almost every country in north central Europe , especially in Germany and the United Kingdom.
