our story

We are Alfonso and Indre. For most of the year we live and work in London but we yearn for a quieter lifestyle, one which brings us closer to nature.  We both spent our younger years helping on our family farms, Indre in the north of Lithuania and I in the south of Italy. So, because of our upbringing, we share this intrinsic love of the land. 

A few years ago we started our search for a house in the Italian countryside.  In Campania, where I come from, we were asked if we would be interested in viewing some land.  We didn’t hesitate and found ourselves committing our life savings on four hectares of terraced land with over 700 olive trees, a small vineyard and many other fruit trees. 

The previous owner and now our good friend Gennaro has spent most of his life, as did his father and his grandfather tending the olive grove and making high quality extra virgin olive oil for local people.  Gennaro’s passion for olive oil was infectious and once we started to look into the extra virgin olive oil history and broadened our understanding of its health benefits, we were hooked. We too wanted to be part of the increasing number of honest producers who work hard to create quality extra virgin olive oil while preserving a heritage in danger of being lost in rural areas.

We are following Gennaro’s footstep in the way we look after our olive grove by continuing to farm organically. This is the most natural option for us given the biodiversity of our land, the richness of its soil and the ideal micro climate. The methods we use to harvest and mill the olives give us confidence in the quality and the distinctive taste of our extra virgin olive oil. 

We are very excited about the learning opportunities we are getting through this life changing project and are blessed to have Gennaro’s knowledge being handed over to us.  We want to share this experience as widely as possible and with an amazing medium - our honest and beautiful Collana Verde extra virgin olive oil.