An Interview with Danilo Manco, founder of The Olive Oil Company

Danilo Manco Basil-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil, as featured in our Rome City Break in a Box

If you’ve been lucky enough to be treated to one of our Rome City Break Boxes, you'll doubtless have enjoyed the basil-infused extra virgin olive oil included for your gastronomic delight.

Today, we’re talking to Danilo Manco, who founded the Olive Oil Company to combat his homesickness for his native Puglia. Read on for more!

Tell us about the Olive Oil Company. What inspired you to start it, and where are you based?

Whilst studying in London I was missing my family product so much so in 2001, a small flat near New Cross packed with boxes full of olive oil, became The Olive Oil Co's first warehouse. The same year, equipped with a chair and an unsteady wooden table, I opened my first market stall in Borough Market (London Bridge). At the end of the trading day, the only things left were the empty boxes and a big smile on my face.

Today we have a warehouse in Eltham, south east London where we receive our products weekly sent out from my production site in Puglia (www.oleariamanco.it).

What do you think makes your brand stand out?

Sustainable farming is available to everyone, however due to the high costs of it unfortunately not many use this method. We love the smell of grass and although this requires an enormous amount of work to keep the fields clean, we avoid the use of herbicides. Furthermore the early harvest guarantee a product full of pholyfenols: great natural antioxidants for our body. The production with green olives is of high quality but produces less olive oil. Once finished, we store the extra virgin olive oil in dedicated stainless steel tanks oxygen free in a temperature-controlled room to preserve the product at its best.

How does the process of olive oil making work?

For extra virgin olive oil the process is mechanical, harvesting the fruits from the tree when not fully ripe is the first step and then we process them the very first day in order to keep the olives at their best during transformation. Firstly the olives are washed, then they get crushed , then they move to a ‘malaxander’ that works out the paste for approx 20 minutes before moving it to an extraction pump to get the oil out of it, the last stage is a decanter that separates the actual olive oil water from the refluent water

In our Rome box, we love the basil infused olive oil. Do you have any tips on how to use it?

I love this product on Bruschetta, mozzarella, pasta, pizza and tomatoes, it is just an excellent appetitizer.

You create so many delicious flavours of infused olive oil. Which are your favourites, and why?

In our range we have the followings: Garlic, Chilli, Lemon , Rosemary, Oregano, Truffle and Mandarin. Whilst I like all of them in turns, I do enjoy the Mandarin at its best as I can use it to make delicious biscotti, summery salads with some fruits in it (especially with Oranges) and on seabream or seabass wether grilled or as carpaccio.

If our guests in the UK would love to discover more of your oils, where can they find you?

We are still in Borough Market where we have our only retail shop in London, customers are welcome there to try all our range and to find out more about the products.