"What the end consumer doesn't know is that a little Zucchi can be found everywhere—in sauces, in bakeries, in ready-made meals, and even on the shelves of major supermarket chains," says Alessia Zucchi, president and CEO of Oleifizio Zucchi . Along with her brother, who sits on the board of directors, she represents the sixth generation of the family to lead the company, which she says "learns that it doesn't belong to you, but to the local area, to the community."
Today, Zucchi, with over 215 years of history, exports to numerous countries worldwide, primarily the United States and Germany, with a turnover of €338 million and growing. It is particularly strong in terms of volume, with 197 million kilos produced and continuing to grow.
Let's start with the history... you have a lot of it.
" It's 215 years of history , celebrated last year with the official stamp. A very beautiful moment, we were able to give it to all the people who work with us. It's a story that comes from afar and that I also discovered when my father's uncle, Commendatore Gianni Zucchi, passed away. We opened the trunks and discovered that he had conducted an investigation with a historian into his ancestors. In 1800 there were no chambers of commerce. To understand what his ancestors did, my father's uncle then went to the 'books of souls', those in the parishes, where the names of the ancestors and their respective jobs were listed. And right there we discovered that they were a family of 'ogliari', written with a 'gl', in Lodi. We think there were already some oil producers in the late 18th century, but we have a date, 1810, and it all started from there. We are the sixth generation."
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Excellence in quality, respect for work and the environment, and long-term sustainability of choices: these are the values Oleificio Zucchi has championed for over two centuries. In March 2024, Oleificio Zucchi, the first company in Italy in the food sector, obtained the Made Green in Italy certification from the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security for its 100% Italian Sustainable Extra Virgin Olive Oil . This is the voluntary national scheme for assessing and communicating the environmental footprint of products, which combines the measurement of a product or service's environmental impact throughout its life cycle with the "Made in Italy" dimension, linked to the excellence of the national production system, through the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) methodology defined by the European Union. In 2023, Oleificio Zucchi presented the "Guidelines for assessing and communicating the sustainability of Italian olive oils." An interdisciplinary tool, the result of three years of work by a Scientific Committee of experts, essential for defining and communicating the sustainability of Italian olive oil.
In line with its commitment to protecting and promoting the olive oil sector, in 2020 the company joined Federolio, the largest Italian trade organization in the wholesale and packaging of olive oil.
Since 2019, Oleificio Zucchi has been a member of the Filiera Italia association , which brings together leading players in agriculture and the food industry, united to promote a more cohesive supply chain and support Made in Italy agri-food products. These recent projects are the natural evolution of the Sustainability Certification for the Extra Virgin Olive Oil supply chain guaranteed by CSQA , obtained in 2017 and which represented the realization of Oleificio Zucchi's sustainability vision. The certification is based on four important pillars: environmental, social, economic and qualitative, and nutritional.
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Source: QN – National Daily