Filippo Berio Olive Oil: An Honest Look at the Brand
Filippo Berio olive oil is a brand founded in Lucca, Tuscany, in 1867. The name has belonged to the Lucca group SALOV since 1919, and SALOV has been majority-owned by China's Bright Food since 2014. Its oils are blended near Lucca, typically from Italian, Greek, Spanish and Tunisian oils. It says it samples about 6,000 oils a year and keeps 6%. The range spans extra virgin, organic, 100% Italiano and Extra Light Tasting oils. No harvest dates or lab figures are published. Checked 20 October 2026.
The Short Answer
- Filippo Berio is a genuine heritage brand, founded by Filippo Berio in Lucca, Tuscany, in 1867, and it won medals at international expositions in the 1870s. Its US site still leads with "Established in 1867".
- The brand is no longer family-owned. The Filippo Berio name has been held by the Lucca-based group SALOV since 1919, and SALOV has been majority-owned by China's Bright Food since 2014.
- Filippo Berio's standard extra virgin olive oil is a blend drawn from across the Mediterranean — typically Italy, Greece, Spain and Tunisia — rather than oil from a single estate or country. The range also includes a line named 100% Italiano.
- On 20 October 2026 the US site said its blenders sample "6,000 olive oils" a year and that "only 6%" become Filippo Berio oil, and that production is at a facility just outside Lucca.
- "Extra virgin" is a real, regulated grade. Traceable origin and freshness add information the grade alone does not.
Who Filippo Berio Is: A Tuscan Name Since 1867
Filippo Berio began with a real person. Born near Genoa and raised in Lucca, Filippo Berio learned the olive oil trade as a young apprentice and, in 1867, founded the firm that carries his name. He built a reputation for selecting good olives and pressing them carefully, and for a time he personally signed his bottles as a guarantee of authenticity. The brand's oils won gold medals at international expositions — Lyon in 1872 and Paris in 1878.
After Berio's death, the brand passed in 1919 to SALOV — the Società Anonima Lucchese Oli e Vini, a Lucca-based group of oil and wine producers — which has commercialised it ever since. Since 2014, SALOV itself has been majority-owned by Bright Food, a large state-backed group based in China. The Italian family story is heritage; the company that owns and runs the brand today is SALOV, with its production facility still just outside Lucca.
Filippo Berio is a large, professionally run brand, which brings real advantages — consistency, wide availability and established quality-control systems — and the trade-offs that come with scale and blending.
Where Filippo Berio's Olive Oil Comes From
Despite the Tuscan heritage on the label, Filippo Berio's standard olive oil is a Mediterranean blend. The brand's labelling describes its oil as a blend of oils from more than one country, typically drawing on Italy, Greece, Spain and Tunisia. The oil is blended to a consistent house style by master blenders and bottled at scale for export.
Blending across countries is standard practice for large olive oil brands, and the labels are generally explicit about it. It means "Filippo Berio" describes a recipe and a brand rather than a place: a blend assembled to taste the same bottle after bottle, year after year. Its 100% Italiano line is named for buyers who want Italian oil; check that bottle's origin statement.
A dependable, everyday cooking oil that tastes consistent and is easy to find is exactly what a large blend does well. What a multi-country blend cannot tell you is which grove the oil grew in or how soon after picking it was pressed.
The Filippo Berio Range
| Oil (as listed on the US site, 20 October 2026) | Grade |
|---|---|
| Extra Virgin Olive Oil — described as "well-balanced with a slightly strong aftertaste" | Extra virgin |
| Robusto Extra Virgin Olive Oil | Extra virgin |
| Delicato Extra Virgin Olive Oil | Extra virgin |
| Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil | Extra virgin |
| 100% Italiano Extra Virgin Olive Oil | Extra virgin |
| Sustainable Select: Hearty Balance and Smooth Harmony EVOO | Extra virgin |
| Olive Oil | Olive oil (refined and virgin blend) |
| Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil | Olive oil (refined and virgin blend); "light" refers to taste, not calories |
The grade word is the one to read first. The extra virgin lines are unrefined; plain "Olive Oil" and "Extra Light Tasting" are blends of refined and virgin olive oil.
What "Extra Virgin" Means — and Why It Has Been Tested
"Extra virgin" is a regulated grade, not a marketing word. To qualify, an oil must be produced by mechanical means only, have a free acidity of no more than 0.8%, and pass a sensory panel with no detectable defects.
The category has not always lived up to its grade on the shelf. Independent testing over the years — including a well-known University of California, Davis study published in 2010 — found that 69% of the imported "extra virgin" samples it tested failed to meet the standard, usually on sensory grounds such as rancidity or fustiness. That finding covered many household brands and is a point about the category and about how oil ages in transit and on the shelf, not a verdict on any single bottle you buy today.
The practical takeaway: the grade matters, and so does freshness. Buy the most recent stock you can find, store it away from light and heat, and use it within a few months of opening.
Is Filippo Berio Olive Oil Good?
For an everyday olive oil, yes. Filippo Berio is a real, long-established brand with a broad, clearly graded range, a blending operation that says it rejects most of the oils it samples, and wide availability. Its standard extra virgin is a multi-country Mediterranean blend, so it offers consistency rather than single-origin traceability or a harvest date. Choose an extra virgin line for flavour, and read the 100% Italiano or Organic labels if origin or organic status matters to you.
How Filippo Berio Compares with a Single-Estate Oil
Filippo Berio offers an organic line, a 100% Italiano line, a range for every cooking job and availability almost anywhere — things a small estate cannot match. A single-estate oil makes a different promise: one grove we farm ourselves, one harvest, cold-pressed and left unfiltered.
| Filippo Berio extra virgin (as published) | Sidr & Stone Marrakech (500ml) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sourcing | Mediterranean blend, typically Italy, Greece, Spain and Tunisia | One estate near Marrakech, Morocco |
| Consistency | Blended to a house style year-round | Single annual harvest |
| Organic | Organic Extra Virgin line | Organically grown; certification in progress |
| Processing | Blended and bottled near Lucca | Cold-pressed; unfiltered |
| Testing | Blenders sample about 6,000 oils a year; no figures published | Every batch independently tested |
If you want a consistent, widely available everyday oil, Filippo Berio is the better fit. If you want one oil you can trace to a single farm and season, our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml) is made for that. Our guide to choosing a quality olive oil covers the checks in more detail.
Why Sidr & Stone
Sidr & Stone makes one olive oil, from one farm we work ourselves, in small batches you can trace.
- Single-estate — one family-owned grove near Marrakech, Morocco, with no blending across origins.
- Rain-fed — no irrigation; the trees take what the season gives them.
- Organically grown — without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides (not yet certified; certification is in progress).
- Every batch independently tested.
- Single harvest — a small, limited batch; once it is gone, it is gone until the next harvest.
- Cold-pressed.
- Unfiltered extra virgin — minimally processed; natural sediment is normal and expected.
- 100% natural — a single ingredient, olive oil, with nothing added.
- Dark glass with a gold label — protective packaging against light.
- 10% of profits given to charity.
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Filippo Berio olive oil good?
For an accessible, consistent, everyday olive oil it is a reasonable choice, backed by a long heritage and a large blending operation. Its standard extra virgin is a multi-country blend, so it does not offer single-origin traceability or a harvest date. If you are weighing it against other supermarket options, see our guide to the best store-bought olive oil.
Is Filippo Berio real olive oil?
Yes. Filippo Berio is an established brand, and its extra virgin oils are sold under the regulated extra virgin grade, while its "Olive Oil" and "Extra Light Tasting" products are clearly labelled refined-and-virgin blends. We have not lab-tested its oils, so judge a bottle by its grade, origin statement and freshness.
Where is Filippo Berio olive oil from?
The brand was founded in Lucca, Tuscany, and is still blended and bottled at a facility just outside Lucca. Its standard extra virgin oil is a Mediterranean blend, typically drawn from Italy, Greece, Spain and Tunisia. The range also includes a 100% Italiano extra virgin; check that label's origin statement.
Is Filippo Berio still an Italian company?
In heritage and production location, yes; in ownership, not entirely. The brand has been held by the Lucca-based group SALOV since 1919, and SALOV has been majority-owned by China's Bright Food since 2014. The Italian roots and the Lucca facility are genuine; the controlling shareholder is not Italian.
What does "extra virgin" actually guarantee?
Extra virgin is a regulated grade requiring mechanical extraction, free acidity of no more than 0.8%, and no sensory defects. It is meaningful, but oil changes with age, heat and light, and independent testing has found shelf samples across the category that no longer met the grade. Freshness and storage matter alongside the label.
What is Filippo Berio Extra Light Tasting olive oil?
It is the plain "olive oil" grade — a blend of refined and virgin olive oils with a neutral flavour. "Light" refers to taste, not calories: all olive oil has roughly the same energy content. It suits high-heat cooking and baking where you do not want olive flavour, and it is a different product from the brand's extra virgin.
How does Filippo Berio compare with Sidr & Stone?
Filippo Berio is a large, widely available brand with blended extra virgin, 100% Italiano and organic lines. Sidr & Stone sells one unfiltered extra virgin olive oil from a single estate we farm near Marrakech: rain-fed, organically grown with certification in progress, cold-pressed and every batch independently tested.
Is olive oil a medicine?
No. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history — including being honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah — and a substantial body of modern research, particularly around polyphenols, cardiovascular health, and the Mediterranean diet pattern. It can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine, but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any olive oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
Filippo Berio is a famous name for understandable reasons: a heritage going back to 1867, real scale, broad availability and a clearly graded range. If you want a consistent everyday oil, it does the job, and its 100% Italiano and Organic lines answer the most common origin and certification questions.
What a multi-country blend does not give you is a single named grove or a harvest date. If you would rather have one oil you can trace to a single farm, our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml) is available to pre-order now as a limited single-harvest batch, with fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
Our extra virgin olive oil is grown organically on our own single-estate farm on the plains outside Marrakech: we control every step from tree to bottle, and no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers are used. It is not yet certified organic — certification is in progress, and we will publish it as soon as it comes through.
Disclaimer: This article describes Filippo Berio as published on the brand's US website, checked on 20 October 2026, and its ownership as previously recorded from public sources; brand ownership, sourcing and specifications may change, so check current sources. Comparisons are made in good faith and in fair terms. Sidr & Stone is not affiliated with or endorsed by Filippo Berio or SALOV. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, consult a qualified medical professional.