Our History
For several years, Agrestis has received important recognitions both nationally and internationally, which reward the quality of the extra virgin olive oil, produced from the prestigious Tonda Iblea olive.
The Agrestis Company
The Agrestis company was born in Buccheri, a picturesque Sicilian village nestled on the slopes of the Iblei Mountains, which with its 820m. above sea level it is the highest municipality in the Syracuse area. The Bucchero territory occupies an area of 57.38 km2, among arid hills, wonderful forests and beautiful ruins.
The Cooperative extends over over 120 hectares of completely uncontaminated volcanic soil, kilometers away from the industry, where the centuries-old native olive trees, watered only by rain, give a harvest of the highest quality. The temperature range of these incredible mountains strengthens the plants in a completely natural way, which gives olives with unique properties.
Precisely on these steep terrains, the perfect environmental and climatic characteristics exist for the olive tree, which represents a centuries-old culture in the area, in particular for the prestigious Tonda Iblea olive.
In the Buccheri families, the production of oil and olives is a tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation
The birth
In 2003, Giuseppe Paparone and Lorenzo Nicotra, lifelong friends, started the Agrestis cooperative to protect the numerous centuries-old olive trees that grew in the nearby now abandoned countryside, transforming the small domestic production of oil into a real high level activity and production. Subsequently, their sons Pietro and Salvatore also joined the project, contributing with their knowledge and passion, bringing innovation and modernity to the already award-winning family-run company.
The Company Today
Over the years the company has grown and from the initial 5 hectares it now deals with around 120 hectares of olive groves, all converted to organic, between owned countryside and rented land.
The philosophy of the project from the beginning has been to commit to redeveloping the environment and the Bucchero countryside, transforming olive oil, a local product and expression of the Sicilian culinary tradition, into a high quality product.
BuccheriWorld Capital of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
In 2015, Buccheri earned the title of World Capital of Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil thanks to the prestigious recognition obtained by Agrestis in the international “Sol d’Oro” competition in Verona.
In 2021, the town was included in the circuit of the most beautiful villages in Italy and received the title of most beautiful village in Sicily. Furthermore, in the same year, Buccheri was named Best Culinary destination
(best culinary destination in the world) by the WFTA association and was part of the Borghi dei Tesori circuit.
In 2022, thanks to the growing quality of extra virgin olive oil, the flagship product of Borgo Ibleo, Buccheri was admitted to the National Association of Oil Cities.
Today there are 20,000 olive trees and they require continuous, hard work throughout the year to keep all production phases under control
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AWARDS
For several years Agrestis has received important recognitions both nationally and internationally which reward the quality of the extra virgin oil produced from the prestigious Tonda Iblea olive which presents all its best characteristics in the Buccheri area.
