Pubblications - Frantoio Turri F.lli

During the last decades, for a variety of reasons the attitude of Italians towards food has changed dramatically. The ties with the rural past have been cut, but the idealized memory of that time is still vivid in our minds, thanks to the advertisements promoting all that is natural, genuine and made in a traditional way, hence inducing the consumers to believe that these feature are an added value. Widespread market distribution, introduced into our country for the first time about 40 years ago, has contributed to changing the tastes of Italians, making them less provincial and more open to novelties, as well as introducing a greater degree of competition on the food market.

Importing products of foreign origin has brought people closer to the traditions  not only culinary  of other countries. Moreover, a new perception and attention to our physique has influenced our opinions on nutrition, and this is particularly evident in the younger generations. The latest Anglo-Saxon trends and the typical lifestyle in large urban centres have seriously attacked ,though not wholly eliminated, the Italian model of conviviality based on the pleasure of partaking an enjoyable meal.

Another consideration that must be taken into account is that concerning the Italian and European laws relative to the production and distribution of food. These laws have recently become very complex, owing to the constant need to protect both consumers and producers.

Obviously all these aspects have affected and continue to influence the sector of olive oil production and consumption, in a manner similar to that observed in the wine and vine-growing sectors. Only a few decades ago it would have been impossible to imagine courses for oil tasters, a specific lexicon for defining the organoleptic features of olive oil and the vast array of European laws and regulations on this matter.

Given all these challenges, a family-run, medium-small enterprise such as ours  established a few decades ago in Valpantena, near Lake Garda, and hence in a region that is considered marginal for the Italian olive oil sector  could have simply specialized in niche products. Our company however preferred to confront itself with a wider reality, trying to safeguard both quality and its roots whilst operating on a larger market.

Both our promotional and, we may add with a certain pride, our cultural activities follow this philosophy, which inspired a policy including various publications and the endorsement of several, popular events. It is not the first time that Turri sponsors and finances a book devoted to the history of olive and oil. The booklets Olio ed Olivi nel Garda veronese (1994) and Il Garda Oliandolo (2004), are now followed by this investigation, for many aspects more demanding than the previous ones, but equally satisfactory.

Already the introduction reveals what can be seen in the various papers published on this topic, namely the extraordinary importance and variety of roles played by olive and its oil in the Middle Ages in Italy. The rural landscape at the time was characterized by the harmonious canopy of the olive groves, and the book describes the techniques used both by farmers and oil producers, the distribution and trade of olive oil, its multiple uses, not only for cooking but also in church ceremonies and for medical and industrial purposes.

Many problems and issues still exist, and many are the threads that bind the past to the present. We are more convinced than ever that we are part of a project and a tradition rooted in the distant past, and although we play a different role from that of the researchers who have here published the results of their investigations, we share the same, common objectives.

Giancarlo Turri