Bertolli

Lore & Background

The Bertolli company was founded in 1865 by Francesco Bertolli and his wife, Caterina, in Lucca, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy, initially selling produce such as wine, cheese, olives, and olive oil. The Bertolli family managed the company until 1972, when it was acquired by Alimont, part of the Montedison Group. Ownership later passed through Alivar, Società Meridionale di Elettricità (SME), and Cirio Bertolli De Rica before Unilever acquired the brand in 1994.

In 2008, Unilever sold the olive oil business to Grupo SOS (now Grupo Deoleo) for £500 million, including related brands and a factory in Inveruno, Italy. The frozen foods business was sold to ConAgra Foods, with the deal announced in August 2012 and completed in early 2013. On 22 May 2014, Unilever announced the sale of its North American pasta sauce business under the Ragú and Bertolli brands to Mizkan Holdings for US$2.15 billion, with the transaction closing in July 2014. Mizkan obtained the Bertolli trademark for pasta sauces in North America, while Deoleo retained the olive oil trademark globally except in North America, where it is licensed. The trademark is also licensed to ConAgra, Deoleo, and Unilever under more complex arrangements. In 2018, the Bertolli spread business and license were transferred to Upfield (now Flora Food Group), and in 2021, Unilever divested its European pasta sauce and mayonnaise business under the Bertolli brand to Enrico-Glasbest.

Reader's Guide

Bertolli's significance lies in its evolution from a small Tuscan producer to a globally recognized brand, particularly as the former market leader in extra virgin olive oil. Its ownership history reflects broader trends in the food industry, including consolidation by multinationals like Unilever and Mizkan, and the separation of non-core businesses. The brand's legal controversies, notably a 2010 study and a 2018 class action lawsuit over mislabeling of olive oil as 'extra virgin' and 'Imported from Italy,' highlight ongoing issues of food fraud and consumer protection. The settlement required Deoleo to adopt new practices, such as using dark green bottles and disclosing harvest dates, which set precedents for transparency in the olive oil industry. Bertolli's diverse product lines—olive oil, pasta sauces, frozen meals, and spreads—demonstrate its adaptability, though its market share in pasta sauce (7.2% in 2015) lagged behind competitors Ragú and Prego. The brand's legacy is thus a mix of commercial success, regulatory challenges, and adaptation to changing consumer expectations.

Did You Know?

• Bertolli was founded in 1865 by Francesco Bertolli and his wife, Caterina, in Lucca, Tuscany.
• In 2010, Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil was identified as mislabeled in a study by the University of California, Davis.
• A 2018 class action settlement required Deoleo to pay US$7 million and change packaging to dark green bottles.
• The Bertolli trademark is owned by Deoleo for olive oil globally except in North America, where it is licensed; Mizkan owns the trademark for pasta sauces in North America.

Tuscan Roots and a Family Legacy

Bertolli traces its origins to 1865, when Francesco Bertolli and his wife Caterina established their trading business in Lucca, Tuscany, then part of the Kingdom of Italy. Their initial offerings were humble and deeply rooted in the local terroir: wine, cheese, olives, and olive oil. This modest start in a small Tuscan city would eventually blossom into a globally recognized food brand. The Bertolli family stewarded the company for over a century, passing it through generations until 1972, when the family era ended and the business entered the world of large corporate ownership under Alimont, a division of the Montedison Group. What began as a family operation selling agricultural produce to local customers had, by the time of that first corporate acquisition, already established Bertolli as a household name in the olive oil category, eventually becoming the global market leader in extra virgin olive oil. The transition from family hands to industrial conglomerates marked the beginning of a long and often turbulent corporate journey that would see the brand change hands numerous times over the following decades.

A Chameleon of Corporate Ownership

Few consumer brands have experienced ownership as fluid as Bertolli. After the Bertolli family sold the company in 1972, it passed through Alimont (a Montedison Group division), was rebranded Alivar, then absorbed by the Italian state-owned conglomerate Società Meridionale di Elettricità. When SME was broken up, the brand was reorganized into Cirio Bertolli De Rica, later acquired by financial firm Fisvi, and finally purchased by Unilever in 1994. Unilever's tenure saw a cascade of strategic divestitures. In 2008, the olive oil business—along with the Maya, Dante, and San Giorgio brands and the Inveruno factory in Lombardy—was sold to Spain's Grupo SOS (now Grupo Deoleo) for £500 million. In August 2012, the frozen foods line went to ConAgra Foods. On May 22, 2014, Unilever agreed to sell its North American pasta sauce operations under the Ragú and Bertolli names to Japan's Mizkan Holdings for US$2.15 billion, with Mizkan obtaining the trademark while licensing it to ConAgra, Deoleo, and Unilever. By 2018, the spread business shifted to Upfield (now Flora Food Group), and in 2021, European pasta sauce and mayonnaise operations were divested to Dutch manufacturer Enrico-Glasbest. The Bertolli name has thus become a chameleon, adapting to whatever corporate parent held its trademark.

From Oil to the Freezer Aisle

Bertolli began its life as an olive oil brand and held the position of global market leader in extra virgin olive oil. Over time, the brand expanded well beyond its liquid origins into pasta sauces and ready-made meals, creating a broader Italian food portfolio. The frozen meal line is organized into three consumer-facing categories: "Meals for One," "Meals for Two," and "Dessert," reflecting a strategy to serve different household sizes and occasions. However, the brand's market dominance was not uniform across all categories. In the pasta sauce segment, Bertolli held a 7.2% market share in 2015, trailing behind both Ragú and Prego. Sales of the frozen foods brands also experienced a decline in 2014. When ConAgra took over the frozen foods business in 2012, the company shifted its strategic emphasis in 2015 toward growing private-label products sold under retailers' own brand names, signaling a recalibration of how the Bertolli name was deployed in the marketplace. The brand thus evolved from a single-product champion into a diversified Italian food label, though its relative standing varied significantly by product category and region.

The 'Extra Virgin' Controversy

Bertolli's reputation took a significant hit in 2010 when a University of California, Davis study identified its Extra Virgin Olive Oil among products mislabeled as "extra virgin." The controversy culminated in 2018 when parent company Deoleo agreed to a US$7 million class-action settlement. Plaintiffs alleged that the "Imported from Italy" label was misleading, since the olives were actually grown and pressed in Greece, Chile, Spain, Australia, Turkey, and Tunisia, with only the blending and bottling occurring in Italy. The suit also claimed that Bertolli's clear bottles failed to shield the oil from sunlight and temperature extremes, potentially degrading quality below the "extra virgin" standard before it reached shoppers. As corrective measures, Deoleo switched to dark green bottles to prevent photooxidation, implemented stricter testing protocols, began disclosing the olive harvest date on labels, and shortened the "Best by" window. Deoleo also committed to avoiding similar phrasing unless the oil was derived entirely from Italian-grown and pressed olives. In a related legal move on November 15, 2018, Deoleo secured an injunction against Natural Solutions Magazine over false statements targeting Bertolli and its Carapelli brand.

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