Roi: Ligurian Olive Oil, Five Generations Since 1890

For five generations, the Boeri family — historically nicknamed Roi — has shared the flavors of the Ligurian coast through olive oil, pesto and more. In Eataly's spring campaign honoring producers and their craft, we spoke with Paolo Boeri Roi about the origins of the family business, his passion for the work and the future of food.

From a rented mill to 45 countries

The story began in 1890, when Giuseppe Boeri rented a communal olive oil mill in the hills of Liguria to process local Taggiasca olives with a traditional stone press. Today Paolo works alongside his father at the family mill.

"Roi is the historical nickname of our family," Paolo says. The family was born in Badalucco, in West Liguria, as oil producers around 1890. They turned olives into oil and sold the production to large industries in Imperia, the city of oil.

In the 1980s, Paolo's father began bottling the oil to sell to restaurants and shops nearby, but nearly everyone already had a supplier or made their own oil. At a party he met Stephan, a German, and the two became friends and began imagining the oil on German shelves. That is where the brand was really born. Now in its fifth generation, with Paolo and a partner from Germany, Roi serves 45 nations around the world.

A steep valley, harvested by hand

Roi products are born in Badalucco, a small town in the Valle Argentina, named for the color of the olive leaves. The trees grow on narrow terraces about 1,150 feet above sea level, just inland of Sanremo, in a mild climate among Mediterranean shrubs, chestnut trees and wild herbs. The terrain is steep and difficult, and everything is still cultivated and harvested by hand.

The family studies each product almost 100% in-house, from design to composition. "We like to transform an idea, crazy or not, into reality and hear what our customers think about it," Paolo says. Managing everything internally keeps the products original.

The art of the frantoiano

Knowing how to observe matters most for an olive miller. Olives arriving at the mill are still selected by hand, so the eye and experience count. A careful eye finds the best olives, such as those for brine, while experience keeps the purchase price right. The nose and sensitivity matter too: olives must be processed clean, with temperatures and times well controlled, and as soon as they arrive. The faster the work, the better the oil.

There is no real school for the frantoiano. It is a trade handed down from father to son or learned by doing. The mill's manager lived for years at the mill with Paolo's grandfather and father, learning their secrets, and now runs it independently. Paolo's father buys and selects the olives, and Paolo handles sales.

Roots and curiosity

"You can't have great hair without having strong roots," Paolo says of the family's tie to its past. Technology and research keep moving, but knowing what came before makes the family strong. Badalucco remains home, and they have no intention of leaving.

Curiosity keeps the work fresh. Paolo chose this job out of passion, and selling in 45 countries means travel, new people and constant growth for the mind. New projects and new products keep monotony away.

"I think the food industry is the best market to work in, if not the best — certainly the most enjoyable," he says. Traveling, meeting people and tasting dishes and products every day makes the work full and always interesting. To Paolo, enjoying good wine and a dish cooked with love while listening to the stories of a producer, a cook or a friend is something unmatched.