In Oliveto Citra, a Family Mill Advances Research, Sustainability and Quality

Summary

Oleificio Dell’Orto, located in Oliveto Citra over­look­ing the Upper Sele River Valley, has been pro­duc­ing olive oil since the 1870s, with the fourth gen­er­a­tion of the fam­ily now lead­ing the com­pany. The mill has embraced inno­va­tion over the years, intro­duc­ing mod­ern extrac­tion tech­nolo­gies and con­duct­ing research on olive pro­cess­ing by-prod­ucts, while also focus­ing on sus­tain­abil­ity, edu­ca­tion, and oleo­tourism to pre­serve the land and cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for the com­mu­nity.

Perched on a hill­top over­look­ing the Upper Sele River Valley in Campania’s Salerno province, Oliveto Citra has been home to Oleificio Dell’Orto since the 1870s. The scenic vil­lage takes its name from the Italian word for ​“olive grove” and a ref­er­ence to its thir­teenth-cen­tury ori­gins, reflect­ing its deep olive-grow­ing voca­tion and his­toric legacy.

“The com­pany was founded by my great-grand­fa­ther Vito, then passed to my grand­fa­ther, after whom I was named, my father Fiore, and even­tu­ally my brother Sergio and I,” co-owner Polidoro Dell’Orto told Olive Oil Times. He rep­re­sents the fourth gen­er­a­tion of a fam­ily of millers who have guided the evo­lu­tion of extrac­tion tech­nolo­gies for more than a cen­tury and a half.

In the mill’s ear­li­est years, oil was extracted using two presses with hand-oper­ated winches, then col­lected in a tank from which it was ladled out with a bowl. Hydraulic power later trans­formed the machin­ery, and the arrival of cen­trifuges sig­nif­i­cantly improved effi­ciency and qual­ity.

The mod­ern con­tin­u­ous-cycle cold-extrac­tion sys­tem was intro­duced by the two broth­ers, who grew up in the mill and embraced inno­va­tion at every oppor­tu­nity.

“In 1998, we invested in upgrad­ing our milling tech­nol­ogy, lead­ing the way in the area,” Dell’Orto said. ​“Since then, we have never stopped. We have replaced three plants, always striv­ing for the high­est qual­ity.”

The company’s facil­i­ties sit at the heart of an orchard of 1,500 olive trees span­ning the val­ley, where Campania’s sec­ond-largest river flows. Centuries-old trees grow along­side newer plant­i­ngs.

The orchards con­sist pri­mar­ily of Carpellese and Rotondella, native vari­eties from which Dell’Orto crafted two pre­mium extra vir­gin olive oils — a mono­va­ri­etal and a blend — each awarded the high­est honor at the 2025 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

“One of our old­est trees is a Carpellese, a sym­bol of our company’s his­tory with its beau­ti­ful and impos­ing pres­ence,” Dell’Orto said. ​“I often invite friends and vis­i­tors to touch it as a ges­ture of good luck.”

He noted that Greeks and Phoenicians likely intro­duced olive cul­ti­va­tion in the region. ​“Because of this long his­tory, our groves include not only clas­sic vari­eties such as Leccino and Frantoio but also oth­ers that remain uniden­ti­fied. We are begin­ning a research project with the agri­cul­tural research coun­cil, CREA, to study their geno­types.”

Research plays a cen­tral role at the com­pany, which also col­lab­o­rates with the National Research Council (CNR) in Naples. The mill has joined a study on waste­water and olive pomace, explor­ing inno­v­a­tive appli­ca­tions, includ­ing poten­tial uses in med­i­cine.

“We are inter­ested in study­ing pro­cess­ing by-prod­ucts because we believe noth­ing from the olive tree should be wasted,” Dell’Orto said. The com­pany val­orizes olive pits as a bio­mass source and allows olive leaves to mature and fer­ment. ​“After a year and a half, they become rich peat we use to fer­til­ize the soil.”

“We con­duct research both in the field and in the mill, where we con­tin­u­ously exper­i­ment with our Alfa Laval machines,” he added. ​“Each year, we make improve­ments to max­i­mize per­for­mance.”

Beyond third-party milling, the com­pany works closely with local farm­ers. Technicians mon­i­tor the groves year-round and pro­vide agro­nomic advice. The mill then pur­chases top-grade olives from these grow­ers to pro­duce a ded­i­cated line, cur­rently sourced from about 2,000 trees.

“We have seen many grow­ers in the area switch to organic farm­ing, which is very pos­i­tive,” Dell’Orto said. ​“Farmers are increas­ingly aware of sus­tain­abil­ity, a prin­ci­ple that guides our work.” The com­pany also installed pho­to­voltaic pan­els to power its facil­i­ties.

“Our oils are dis­tin­guished by two guar­an­tee labels, the DOP Colline Salernitane and organic cer­ti­fi­ca­tion,” he added. ​“They rep­re­sent our bond with this land and our com­mit­ment to pro­tect it.”

The com­pany exports 50 per­cent of its out­put through importers spe­cial­iz­ing in pre­mium prod­ucts, with Japan, the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, and Australia among its main mar­kets. International buy­ers, he said, value the farm’s envi­ron­men­tal ded­i­ca­tion.

“We often host vis­its from our buy­ers so they can see how care­fully we man­age our groves,” Dell’Orto said. ​“Above all, I care for this land because I was born here and deeply cher­ish it. Respecting it comes nat­u­rally.”

“Our qual­ity vision includes not only the prod­ucts but the entire ter­ri­tory,” he con­tin­ued. ​“Oliveto Citra is untouched by pol­lu­tion or heavy indus­try. The land is pris­tine, and the land­scape is beau­ti­ful, espe­cially in spring and fall when the valley’s col­ors shine. Knowing how to pre­serve the ter­ri­tory and share its story has great value today.”

In recent years, Dell’Orto has ded­i­cated him­self to edu­ca­tional ini­tia­tives for the pub­lic and for stu­dents, aim­ing to raise aware­ness of qual­ity olive oil and cre­ate new oppor­tu­ni­ties for local employ­ment.

“Depopulation has long been a major issue for Italian vil­lages, reduc­ing the avail­able labor force,” he said. ​“For this rea­son, we orga­nize events, con­fer­ences, and tast­ings to involve peo­ple — espe­cially young peo­ple — and keep them con­nected to the land.”

Students are invited to tour the groves and mill. Tasting courses are offered to future chefs, while younger chil­dren learn about healthy eat­ing and habits.

“I believe in the power of edu­ca­tion to stim­u­late an appre­ci­a­tion for qual­ity and care for the land,” Dell’Orto said. He noted that new B&Bs, agri­tourism prop­er­ties, and vaca­tion homes have sprung up in recent years, bring­ing in more vis­i­tors. ​“Olive grow­ing shapes the land­scape and cre­ates oppor­tu­ni­ties for oleo­tourism that ben­e­fit the com­mu­nity.”

The company’s groves are open to every­one. The prop­erty has no fenc­ing, and Dell’Orto encour­ages neigh­bor­ing farm­ers to let their ani­mals roam freely.

“Our groves are cov­ered with grass, so we allow our chick­ens to scratch under the trees and a local shep­herd to bring his sheep to graze. Another neighbor’s horses roam through the rows,” he said. ​“Sometimes a new dog or cat shows up, and we care for them all. There is a nat­ural syn­ergy between the ani­mals and the thriv­ing groves, where foxes and other wildlife find habi­tat. This is fur­ther proof of a healthy envi­ron­ment, and we believe safe­guard­ing the land is the only way to pro­duce truly high-qual­ity extra vir­gin olive oils.”