Salov leads the new Long Life Oil research project

06 February 2023  - Corporate

Salov leads the new Long Life Oil research project

Milan, February 6, 2023 – Salov SpA, a leading industrial group in the global olive oil sector and owner of the brands Filippo Berio and Sagra, is the head of Long Life Oil, a research project developed in collaboration with Sintecnica Engineering Srl, Enertech, Bioclass Srl, the Department of Agricultural, Food and Agro-Environmental Sciences of the University of Pisa and the Magona Technological Consortium. The goal of this project is to develop innovative technologies to extend the life cycle of olive oils while maintaining high organoleptic, nutraceutical, and nutritional quality.

Co-funded by the EU through the Tuscany Region under the POR FESR 2014-2020 (Action 1.1.5 Sub-Action A1) – Call No.1 Strategic Research and Development Projects – and with the advice of the prestigious NEST Lab of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Long Life Oil has set a series of ambitious goals for the entire production chain. The project consists of planning an innovative bottling, storage, and commercialization system for the final product, based on the experimentation of new packaging solutions and materials and the use of controlled atmospheres that optimize the product’s performance (expiration date, stabilization of qualitative characteristics) while taking into consideration the operating costs.

Additionally, Long Life Oil aims to develop a smart label that allows the monitoring of fundamental parameters for preserving olive oil (temperature, light) during transportation and storage of the product.

The first experimental phase, which began in 2022, will be followed by an industrial-scale phase. At the end of this phase, a feasibility study will be conducted for transferring the innovations designed both in production and in the supply chain.

The Resonance of the Project

Long Life Oil is a strongly desired applied research project by Salov, which proves to be one of the most active industrial realities in developing technological and process innovations aimed at improving the quality standards, food safety, and sustainability of its products. Salov, in fact, already has active collaborations with industrial and academic partners in the context of other industrial projects such as Innovoil or Enzymatic Degumming, and has designated the vast olive grove of Villa Filippo Berio as an “Open-air Laboratory” for experimenting, in collaboration with CNR, sustainable, precise, and resilient agricultural techniques for fighting pathogens and parasites in the olive trees.

The achievement of Long Life Oil goals will offer Salov the opportunity to introduce a new line of products with improved preservation and quality features on the global market, of which it is already one of the main players with the Filippo Berio brand. The prolongation of the shelf-life in the new products will also pave the way for further sustainability benefits in the supply chain, especially in supplying the most distant markets, allowing for less stressful and environmentally impactful delivery times and less product waste.

“Long Life Oil is another step in a path of innovation and continuous improvement of corporate and brand performance, which has led us to achieve significant results in terms of production cycle efficiency, with increasing attention to ESG issues,” says Eng. Fabio Maccari, CEO of Salov SpA. “With our Long Life Oil project partners, we have set challenging goals, but their achievement will allow us to offer on international markets a production of excellence and further guarantee of constant quality over time, an essential element for us at Salov.”

SALOV SpA was established in 1919 by Giovanni Silvestrini, a long-time business partner of Filippo Berio, the founder of the homonymous brand, and a group of entrepreneurs from Lucca. Quickly, the company became a reference point for Lucca in the world. Salov is based in Massarosa, in the province of Lucca, and is one of the largest oil companies with a consolidated net revenue of approximately 376 million euros and 120 million liters sold in 2021. Since 2015, it has been part of the Bright Food International Group.

The Salov Group has always been present in the Italian market with the historic Sagra brand and launched the Filippo Berio brand in Italy for the first time in 2019, a brand with over 150 years of history present all over the world and in leading position in the USA, UK, Russia, Belgium, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.

In Italy, Filippo Berio is present with a dedicated range, capable of responding to an increasingly demanding consumer in terms of quality and, above all, traceability and sustainability. Thanks to the Berio Method, each stage of the production process is traced and certified starting from the field and from the application of sustainable integrated production techniques.