Giusti

The name Giuseppe Giusti is renowned in the world of Balsamic Vinegar. Charles and Sika first came across their balsamic vinegar, being distributed by a company called Alis, in the early 1990s and quickly added their two medal Balsamic Vinegar of Modena to their then small product list. It was the first balsamic vinegar that The Oil Merchant ever sold, and one of the first to be sold in this country. It was only in 2019 did we agree to work with them directly and vastly expanded our range.

Over the last couple of years, things have got rather out of control, and in order to keep up with customers’ demands, the list of products that we stock has grown rather rapidly. As well as Giusti’s historical collection of vinegars, we have added flavoured balsamic vinegars, gift boxes, and balsamic glazes to the ever-expanding list.

The story of Giusti goes back to 1605 when we see the first official documentation of the Giusti family’s commercial activity where they were noted for the production and retail of Modenese products including Lambrusco, fine sausages, and – importantly for us - balsamic vinegar. During the Espsizione Agaria, a trade fair in Modena that took place in 1863, the first recipe for balsamic vinegar was documented and Giuseppe Giusti wrote his golden rules on how to create the perfect balsamic vinegar: perfect grapes, vessels and time. This is still known as the Giusti Recipe.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries the Giusti family transported their vinegar to tradeshows across Europe with huge success, collecting many prestigious medals. It is these medals that adorn the front labels of their bottles to this day. In 1929 the company was named as suppliers to the Royal House of Savoy by King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy.

 Speeding forward to the present day, Giusti is now led by Claudio Stefani Giusti, from the 17th generation of the family, who has turned this small family company into a world-wide Italian brand. After buying back ownership of the company, he has embraced change and grown exponentially, with eighty members of their team working around the world promoting the brand to great success.