Our goal is to make accessible to the serious consumer of olive oil the finest and broadest selection in the world at prices that are both reasonable and affordable. Veronica Foods Company was founded in New York City in 1924 by Salvatore Esposito. Delizia olive oil was registered in the United States that same year. The Delizia brand was transferred from Naples, Italy by company founder and immigrant, Salvatore Esposito. The Esposito family, which had grown to include four sons and two daughters, moved west to Oakland, California in the late thirties with hopes of building the first olive oil mill in the United States. Those hopes and plans were put on indefinite hold when three of the four Esposito sons joined the military at the beginning of WWII.

The company became a spot market trader and packer of seed oils and other commodities with an emphasis on California canned tomatoes and fruits. The thrust of the business remained the same under the capable hands of the eldest son Anthony Esposito. The olive oil portion of the business continued to exist as a remnant of an honored tradition. In 1988 it accounted for less than six-tenths of one percent of the company business.

The company remained a small spot market trading company as the next generation began to assume control. Sometime in the late 80’s the company began to take interest in olive oil as a viable business and not just as a subject of family pride and history. Olive oil selection and understanding had always been the exclusive province of Anthony Esposito. Anthony retired in the late eighties as the third generation, headed by current President Michael Bradley, and wife Veronica, (granddaughter of the original founder Salvatore Esposito) assumed control. At that time we were faced with a decision: To abandon or sell off the tiny olive oil portion of the business or to get involved in a more committed and serious way. We were forced to admit that we knew very little about the subject and would have to learn from scratch if we were to continue. It was a fateful decision. Our goal became:

How to identify and market the finest examples of olive oil in the world at prices that we ourselves found sane and affordable.

In order to accomplish this goal we realized that we needed to develop a new more practical understanding of olive oil; an understanding that placed a greater emphasis on application and performance and less on appellation or domain. We began to focus on and celebrate the discernible differences in flavor, function, and durability. We started to taste and compare oils from different regions and countries without the benefit, or handicap of knowing where the oils were produced. We found a virtual treasure trove of styles and varieties unknown outside the local area where they reign supreme. In short, we became obsessed with olive oil.

Over the last few years, we have tasted, and continue to taste on a daily basis, the best oils that we can find from all over the world. We have sampled, and continue to sample, oils from Argentina, Australia, California, Cypress, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey. We have come to appreciate the diversity and difference in olive oil styles. In our travels we have found that there is not a mill anywhere in the world that does not sincerely believe that, when conditions are just right, that they alone produce the finest olive oil in the world. The proverbial five thousand year old book on olive oil is still being written, and in some cases rewritten.

On the left, tanks in our mill in Tunisia. On the right, the view from the roof.

In 1997, we purchased an olive orchard near the ancient Mediterranean city of Carthage, which lies inside the North African country of Tunisia, less than sixty nautical miles from Sicily. We purchased this orchard to build an olive oil mill to test and evaluate the methods that we chronicled in our extensive travels throughout the olive oil producing regions of the world. In October of 1998, Veronica Foods Co., with its Tunisian partner Medgold, completed construction of a state-of-the-art crushing mill and nitrogen flushed tank farm.

We continue to produce world class conventional (as well as organic) olive oil in our facility near the coastal town of Monastir, Tunisia. As producers of olive oil we have formed exclusive alliances with small regional mills like ourselves around the world that lack the experience and capital to open and develop markets in the United States. We are proud to present many varieties from small regional mills for the first time ever in the United States. We see ourselves as part of a growing family of small but efficient producers finding our way into the kitchens and homes of Americans.

We invite you to join us in this most rewarding endeavor.

Michael and Veronica Bradley

Rachel Bradley and Maurico Gomez, serve Restaurants, Delicatessens, Caterers & Power Users.
Leah Bradley, on the right, is head of finance.

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DELIZIA Brand Olive Oil Company
1991 Dennison St., Oakland, California, 94521-0125
info@evoliveoil.com 510.535.6833
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