Colavita Brings Olive Oil to the World

Giovanni Colavita photo credit Bob McClenahan

Giovanni Colavita, CEO of Colavita® USA, grew up with olive oil. In the early days, he says, bottling and labeling was an entirely manual process carried out in the kitchen of his childhood home, next door to the plant in Italy. Bottles were filled by hand and sealed with a cork and hot wax. Today, he leads the family business in the United States and Colavita is found the world over.

Colavita Background

The Colavita brand dates to 1938, when Giovanni’s grandfather produced olive oil to be sold in bulk. In Molise, Italy, two Colavita families operated a stone mill to crush homegrown olives and mill durum wheat into semolina grain, producing pasta for the local market. Colavita Olive Oil and Colavita Pasta companies are now part of the same group.

In the late 1970s, Giovanni’s father Leonardo and uncle Enrico joined the company and began building Colavita’s reputation worldwide, focusing on North America. “They had an incredible relationship,” Giovanni says, describing them as “two completely different characters.” Family businesses can be tough to balance with personal relationships. But Giovanni notes that his father and uncle excelled in keeping any disagreements over business matters between themselves, and the family didn’t perceive tensions or issues. 

Colavita Comes to America

In 1980, when the first container of products was shipped to the US, Williams Sonoma was among the initial customers. Colavita was the first producer to introduce extra virgin olive to the US, and the food service industry was where the product made waves first. “Julia Child was a big supporter,” Giovanni says, noting that commercial kitchens were where major food trends began, and chefs were important early champions for the products.

The Colavita Center

Colavita Center For Italian Food and Wine at the CIA in Hyde Park, NY

This brand building that established Colavita as an ambassador of premium Italian foods in the United States led the Culinary Institute of America to reach out in 1997, seeking to partner with the brand at their New York campus. The brand agreed to fund the Colavita Center, which opened in 2001. The 18,000-square-foot center houses classrooms, kitchens, and the college’s Italian-themed restaurant, Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici. It was a big investment, but it was “Not really ever in doubt for our path and our family that it was something important to do,” Giovanni says. “It was a milestone in our company.”

Giovanni was the first of his generation to join the company, moving to the United States to lead the operation. Today, headquartered in Edison, NJ, the company also has a production and distribution facility in Dixon, CA.  When the opportunity to move to the United States came up, Giovanni says, it was unusual timing: he and his wife had only just moved from one home in Rome to another. “She was very supportive,” he says. 

Colavita Around the World

Carrots, hummus and Colavita extra virgin olive oil

Colavita is now found in more than 70 countries, and the US makes up 50% of exports. The company continues to look to the future, and all plants and warehouses in the United States and Italy are operated using solar power. “We are independent from the grid in every single plant,” Giovanni says. Colavita also works to offset every container imported to the United States in a mission to be carbon neutral. Plus, the team is evaluating processes to become a B-Corp.

Looking Ahead

Olives at mill facility in Callfiornia photo credit Bob McClenahan

The company is growing both organically and via acquisition. In 2023, Colavita announced their acquisition of the O Olive Oil & Vinegar brand. That brand is run by one of Giovanni’s cousins, Paolo Colavita. Read more about O Olive Oil.  In 2025, the company acquired Vitelli Foods, expanding Colavita’s product lines and strengthening its position as the third-largest importer of Italian pasta in the United States. The company has come a long way from the small hand bottling operation that Giovanni grew up with. But even with team members on different continents, the close connections of the family-run business endure. Giovanni keeps in touch with the board members in Rome regularly via their telepresence conferencing system. “It allows us to look like we are in the same room,” he says. Bridging great distances is clearly part of the company’s DNA.