About Us
My name is Gregorio Paone and together with my father Vincenzo we run the family olive oil company Aliva. I mainly take care of the sales, costumer relations and the bottling process; my father on the other hand looks after the work in the fields.
Why Aliva
In 2010 I gratueted in Economics and Marketing at the University of Bologna. A few months later I moved to Barcelona to learn spanish while waiting for the new academic year. While on that journy I started thinking about Calabria under a new unexpected light. I embraced this “call” by deciding to start commercializing the olive oil made in my family land. This choice would have allowed me to satisfy three wishes:
- To keep a strong link with my hometown and its nature
- To work in the production of something healthy and genuine
- To give new continuity to my family tradition, working in the trade of agricultural products.
A family passion: the history of Aliva
In the first half of the ‘900, my grand-grandfather Peppino Paone worked selling vegetables made in my hometown Maida.
In the second half, my grandfather Gregorio Paone sold products produced by local farmers. He also bought our first piece of land to be used in the cultivation of olive trees.
Between the 1999 and 2002, my father planted 4 thousand new olive trees. The oil produced here is sold to wholesalers.
In 2010 I got interested in the production of the extravirgin olive oil. For 3 years, 90% of the production is exclusive for the kitchens of Berberè.
In 2013 ALIVA was born. Besides supplying all the Berberè’s, the oil was initially sold by small shops, grocery stores and online. In some italian regions it is sold to groups who collectively purchase goods directly from the the producers.
Today Aliva keeps on growing following its principles based on the love for the olive oil, the short chain, and direct relation with the customers.
