An epiphany on the sunny slopes of the fertile olive-growing region of Calabria, Italy, led two brothers to realize they could bring to the U.S. a near-century-old family legacy ”“ Chiappetta Olive Oil.
“We had always known my father and his five brothers were in the olive oil business,” Pat Chiappetta said. “But seeing it is another thing completely.”
Pat and Frank Chiappetta own the 15-year-old Point and Click professional computer skill development company in Purchase, N.Y.
After a trip to Italy for their father Vito”™s 80th birthday, the two decided they wanted to bring a piece of their family back to the states. Until last September, the olive oil was only sold wholesale in the towns and cities surrounding San Vincenzo La Costa.
With the help of their children, Ashley, Lori, Leslie, John and James, the family developed marketing materials, labels, a bottling arrangement and a website, and began to import the oil from their uncle Peter, who owns and operates the 40-acre olive farm and mill.
“Our girls really took the initiative in getting this thing off the ground,” Frank Chiappetta said. “They took to this new found legacy. We decided we would give it a go. Worst-case scenario we could start using it ourselves. When you set your expectations for something low, there are only great things that can happen.”
Chiappetta arrived on the American shelves at the gourmet delicatessen Best Wurst in New Canaan in September. Since then they have continued to expand, specifically to small specialty markets.
After researching the olive oil market, the brothers decided to forgo pursuing the larger class of specialty grocer, occupied by Whole Foods and Fairway Markets, but rather focus on the locally owned small markets that speckle Fairfield and Westchester Counties.
Tommy LaRocca, owner of Stamford”™s Giovanni”™s Country Market, which carries the Chiappetta product, said the olive oil business is saturated with competition.
“The Chiappettas”™ product is good,” LaRocca said. “We probably don”™t carry 90 percent of the olive oil that we do see. Once people know you and know your label that”™s when they”™ll buy the product, that”™s why sampling is so important. But for our crowd you”™ve got to be good, our people aren”™t going to buy it if it”™s not good.”
In addition to Best Wurst and Giovanni”™s, Chiappetta Olive Oil is on the shelves at A&S Fine Foods in New Canaan and Stamford, Rowayton Market in Norwalk, Crisfield”™s Prime Meat Market in Rye, N.Y., The Village Market in Wilton, and available online at chiappettaoliveoil.com. The brothers said they would soon be in a multi-location specialty market in Westchester County.
“Living in Fairfield County and working in Westchester County we are fairly lucky; there are a lot of high-end markets around and that is the clientele we are really after,” Frank Chiappetta said. Through cousins, the Chiappettas have also begun to import the product to Canada.
The Chiappettas traveled to Agbiolab, a biological diagnostic lab in California, to get the oil tested and certified as extra virgin. They went on to biologically test the family farm”™s ground for pesticides and achieve organic certification.
Chiappetta Olive Oil is cold-water-pressed and comes from Carolea olives, a medium-size olive grown traditionally in Calabria. The oil, which is known for its smooth texture and hint of pepper taste, is most often used as finishing oil for meat, fish and salads, according to the International Olive Council.
“We have a premium oil and limited quantity,” Pat Chiappetta said.
The family presses their olives twice a year in accordance with International Olive Council regulations, once in October and once in December. The pressings yield about 10,000 liters of oil.
With the expansion of the foodie culture and findings that olive oil improves heart health by controlling cholesterol, the olive oil category has expanded for specialty markets across America and has garnered more focused regulation.
“This year specifically, you”™ll be seeing more stringent rules implemented,” Pat Chiappetta said. “A lot of so-called extra virgin olive oils today are blends; soon many of them may be put to the test. The laws are becoming tighter and tighter as to what extra virgin is defined as.”
As of Oct. 25, 2010, new U.S. grade standards for olive oil and olive pomace oil went into effect. The new standards align with the International Olive Council guidelines, which among others govern the olive oil regulations in top olive oil producers, Greece, Italy and Spain; the U.S. is not a member. Since the passing of the new laws, to be defined as extra virgin olive oil by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the fatty acid content of the oil cannot exceed 0.8 percent and the oil must have “excellent flavor and odor;” previously the limit had been 1.4 percent. Chiappetta olive oil has a .26 percent fatty acid content.
