How does this all work? We have olive oil in Pennsylvania? Who is Fratelli Pugliano?

Good questions!

The Ones on This Side of the Sea

We’re the family on this side of the world – North America. I (Laura) married an Italian (Pino) and my in-laws all still live in Calabria. Pino came to the United States to take a culinary job, which is what he went to school for, and twenty-five years later, here he is with a wife and two kids.

No more the young boy running through his father’s vineyard in Calabria, warm dirt between his toes as he follows the plane above him, Pino has traded working the land for working in an office, and meals of bread-soaked olive oil and steaming beans with pasta for tall cheeseburgers and fried chicken wings. He traded serenity and sea for scrambling and snow. Would he do it all over again if he could? He says he would. Though he does miss La Dolce Vita- living the sweet, slow life.

The Ones on the Other Side of the Sea

My in-laws, Francesco (Ciccio) and Caterina Pugliano, have always been farmers in the warm south of Italy in the region of Calabria. They raised their family and grew their land, establishing a good name for themselves among locals as producers of extremely good extra virgin olive oil. Their three children – Antonio, Giuseppe (Pino), and Maria Grazia – grew up helping with the olive harvest for olive oil, the grape harvest for wine, and picking and preserving all the homegrown fruits and vegetables that their parents’ sustainable farm produced for them to consume all year. An almost sacred highlight of their year that still lives on today is the raising and killing of the pig for each year’s meats, and there’s never a lack of rabbits and chickens to take care of as they contribute to the circular economy of the farm.

Creating Ciccio’s Olives

Pino and I began Ciccio’s Olives in 2020, which was the first year we bottled and branded the EVOO that my in-laws had been making for decades. For generations. We realized that, among ourselves and our extended family, we had all the pieces in place to bring an exquisite, authentic, pure, clean food to American consumers. The more we learned about food fraud, most especially in the world of extra virgin olive oil, the more we were convicted to bring the family liquid gold here to the USA.

And so Ciccio’s Olives was born!

We import the EVOO directly to our storehouse in Leesport, PA, where we hold monthly open houses and from where we fulfill online and wholesale orders. We also welcome pickups by appointment – give us a call or send us an email to let us know if you’re in the area! Where else can you find our EVOO in-store? Check out the growing list of places here.

Who is Fratelli Pugliano?

Fratelli Pugliano is the name of the Pugliano company in Calabria that produces Ciccio’s Olives extra virgin olive oil. It’s still headed up by Francesco (Ciccio), with Antonio running day-to-day operations and strategically guiding the company. Caterina and Maria Grazia still take part in the olive harvest – the busiest time of the year – along with a team of hired workers.

 

Our Hope for You

It’s our hope that you try our extra virgin olive oil and that it brightens your kitchen and elevates your food. Time spent around the table with food, family, and friends is priceless.

 

If you haven’t yet seen our new promo video, check it out here below. No words can quite describe the passion with which Ciccio’s Olives is created and the brilliant, radiating beauty of the Calabrian olive groves like video can.

Alla salute!