Nicolas Alziari

Charles and Sika first visited the Alziari shop in Nice in 1989 and met with M. Alziari. They tried to explain that they would like to wholesale his oil in the UK, but despite insisting we would need a wholesale price he was determined that the price was a price, whether it be for a tin or a pallet. Negotiations failed until a half-French office manager joined the office in the mid 1990s and she charmed him into working with us. We have been happily doing so ever since.

In the early 1900s Nicolas Alziari realised that wine, coffee and chocolate producers were blending different varieties to create exciting new flavour profiles, which ensured that they stood out from their increasing number of competitors. However, nobody was doing this in the world of olive oil. So, Alziari set off on his travels around Europe, studying in detail different olive varieties. No longer was the company just using local Cailletier olives but began working with different European farms to create a delicious blend that had similar flavour profiles to the oil traditionally found around Nice.

When talking about olive oil, we at The Oil Merchant talk about ‘commercial olive oil’ and ‘estate bottled olive oil’. While not produced from olives grown on a single estate, Alziari’s oil leans more heavily towards estate bottled than commercial. They work very closely with their partner farms ensuring that they are working at the highest level; no night harvesting is allowed, and the land is being looked after for future generations. With ever more trying weather patterns each year, their close relationships with their farmers become even more important to help produce the desired quantity and the same flavour profile each year. When picking up one of these wonderful tins you know exactly what to expect year after year.