History – First exporter to America. First glass jar. First nutrition label.
The story of the Bertolli family is not just family history, but the story of a name known and respected worldwide. And it is a story of innovation, over and over again.
In 1865, in the town of Lucca, in the Tuscan heart of Italy's olive growing region, Francesco Bertolli founded a small store-front business selling unpackaged regional goods in sacks, barrels and crates. Ten years later he expanded this business to include the Francesco Bertolli Bank and Exchange in Piazza S. Michele in Lucca.
The bank's charter was the financing, on trust, of the increasing number of immigrants leaving for the Americas. These same immigrants, not finding the products they were accustomed to, began writing to Bertolli, asking for crates of olive oil. Bertolli then became the first olive oil exporter. By the 1890s, Bertolli was conducting a considerable export business, selling goods in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, with business gradually moving west.
Forever linked with those who made Bertolli what it is today, the Bertolli trademark was established as a guarantee of quality, consistency and authenticity. After World War II, as Bertolli's success grew steadily in Italy, the trademark achieved remarkable status. Always committed to growing and maintaining Bertolli’s image, the company began investing in advertising - then quite rare in Italy. Another innovative turn for Bertolli was the introduction of glass bottles in the early 1950s with the now famous slogan: "Buy what you can see." Prior to that, olive oil came in tinplate cans.
As Bertolli expanded business worldwide, Bertolli USA, Inc. was founded. In the 1950s, it continued its insistence on quality and honesty and was the first company to print nutrition information on labels and to educate consumers about important healthy benefits of olive oil. Bertolli was also the first to introduce different varieties and flavors of olive oil, including an Extra Light taste variety to meet American consumers' desire for mild-tasting, monounsaturated cooking oil.
