by Jessika Pini
A brand: "Zucchi 1810" (the year of foundation of the company) and a range of extra virgin olive oils based on the blending technique, are the elements of the project dedicated to olive oil with which Oleificio Zucchi, specialist in the supply and in the production of olive oils and seed oils under its own brand and for private labels, aims to strengthen its presence in foreign markets.
Blending Taking advantage of the characteristics of the cultivars (only in Italy there are more than 700 varieties cultivated, against the 30-40 cultivated in Spain, another big producing country), Oleificio Zucchi created blends, combining excellent productions, that would only meet the demands of market niches if used alone, obtaining extra virgin olive oils of high quality and in sufficient quantities to meet the demand of international players.
New products In addition to the classic Extra virgin olive oil, Olive oil, Olive-pomace oil, the Nera di Colletorto blending, the Peloponneso Kalamata blending and the Navarra of Arbequina blending, a variety Dolce Fruttato (Sweet and Fruity) has just been produced. It is a fruity extra virgin olive oil but without that spicy taste that some consumers do not appreciate. In the new assortment we also find an organic extra virgin olive oil and the two top of the range products, the 100% Italian Extra Virgin olive oil and the 100% Italian Extra Virgin Organic olive oil. We also have the aromatized products: the high quality extra virgin olive oil flavored with hot pepper, or with white truffle, or with lemon, orange, cranberry or pesto, to name a few. From the 2014/2015 production, the new premium PDO and PGI products have been launched. They consist of three PDO Extra virgin olive oils (Terra di Bari - Castel del Monte, Garda - Eastern and Sabina) and a PGI Extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany.
• Of a total turnover of 160 million euros, 15% of sales of Oleificio Zucchi derive from its exports. About 1 million of the above come from the Chinese market, where the company has been working for 6-7 years. Marco Bonati, Sales Director for the Packaged Oils department, explains that "China is a market in great evolution for both the quantities of imported extra virgin olive oil, which reached 50 million litres/year, and for the distribution channels.
• E-commerce and television sales are rapidly growing and extra virgin olive oil is a very popular gift at the moment.
• The company is also present in Japan, especially in the food service channel.
• On the European market, the company is working on the positioning of its brand, in particular in France, Germany and in the UK, "these are non-producing countries, except from France with a small amount, but are very large importers. In total they import 270 million litres of olive oil, 127 million litres go to France, and 70-72 million litres go to Germany and to Great Britain, with an upward trend. "
• The US is the third market in the world for the consumption of oil after Italy and Spain, and it is constantly growing. The United States imports more than 350 million gallons of olive oil (including extra virgin olive oil, olive oil and pomace oil) every year. "In the US, we directly work with some supermarket chains for private labels and with our own brand, and indirectly through traders who buy and resell.
This autumn, Giovanni Zucchi’s book dedicated to the art of blending “L’olio non cresce sugli alberi” (Oil does not grow on trees), will be published in the US.
Various promotional activities will accompany the launch in order to enhance awareness of the American consumer to the quality of extra virgin olive oil. This awareness is already more sophisticated than a few years ago, this is evident by the decline of the segment of olive oils denominated "mild or light" that are qualitatively less valid products replaced by better quality products.
