We wanted to introduce a different and unique packaging for our Extra Virgin Olive Oil: a reproduction of a can used by Giuseppe Calvi shortly after beginning his business, in the 1920s.

It is a vintage style, reminiscent of Art Nouveau, which was fashionable in the early part of the twentieth century.

The story behind this packaging is particular: in reality, a few years ago we had already considered reproducing an original can from our company. We liked the idea of returning to our origins in some way. At that time, we took inspiration from a photograph of a 1924 Calvi company calendar:

In the calendar was an image of one of our original cans which we then reproduced:

You will notice that to stay true to the original we did not add the Calvi brand name as we use today. In fact, in 1924, the company was only 3 years old and it used the initials FC&C (Fratelli Calvi & Company) inside the intertwined leaves.

Knowing that there were other variations of the company can, we would have liked to make another one. The problem, however, was to find an example: a photograph or even an original.

Then we had a stroke of luck: in 2021, the exact year of our centenary, a group of potholers contacted us. While exploring not a cave, but an old mine that had been abandoned for many years, they had found an old Calvi oil can in a secondary tunnel. What that can was doing in there and above all, how it managed to stay intact in such a humid environment for more or less a century is truly a mystery. Anyway, here is our super find!

Truly amazing that after 100 years spent in a tunnel of an abandoned mine its original colours were preserved so well!

Anyway, this is the story behind our “lattina storica” traditional can which we have reproduced as you saw at the head of this article!

At this point, the obvious question is: what oil does it contain? The oil is not that of 1925, of course, but rather a great extra virgin, very sweet in flavour, obviously very Italian and cold extracted.

Click here to go to “Lattina Storica” Traditional Can on our website.

Click here to read about the story of Olio Calvi

Calvi oil is an extra virgin olive oil, Italian and cold pressed making it a quality choice.