Regional Institute of Wine and Oil

Sicily's oil on the move in Verona: All set for SOL2EXPO – 24 companies representing the island's flavours

From 2 to 4 March, Sicily will be present at SOL2EXPO in Verona, a national reference event for the oil ecosystem, with protection consortia, trade associations and producers, gathered under the guidance of the Regional Institute of Wine and Oil.
For the occasion, IRVO has planned two particularly important events: a press conference to be held on Monday 3 March at 11 am at the Sicily pavilion (pavilion 2 – area c3/d3), and a convivial dinner entitled “Discovering Sicily”, to be held on Sunday 2 March at 8 pm at the Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Piazza Brà in Verona.

”The SOL2EXPO of Verona, which after 28 years presents a completely new format dedicated exclusively to olive oil and agri-food, – comments the IRVO commissioner, Giusi Mistretta – constitutes another precious opportunity to promote not only the excellence of the extra virgin olive oil of our Island, but to launch Sicily as the European Region of Gastronomy for 2025.
The convivial dinner on March 2nd aims precisely at this objective through, in particular, the realization of show-cooking. There will be protection consortia, producer organizations, agricultural cooperatives that have adhered to our opinion. An important showcase for its specificity, especially this year, for which expectations are very high”.

There are twenty-four Sicilian production companies participating in the event: "These are producers of DOP/IGP EVO oils, organic EVO oils and conventional EVO oils from the Sicilian Region. – explains the director of IRVO, Vito Bentivegna – We are focusing a lot on these trade fair events in our programming, finding a good response from the producers of the Island. A need for visibility seems to be emerging and we are trying to respond to this, in addition to dealing with all the other aspects that concern the sector and that require particular attention".

SOL2EXPO this year, together with BToB, workshops, conferences and tastings, aims to become a national point of reference for vegetable oils. The idea of this 2025 edition is to explore the entire oil ecosystem: from the producer to the final consumer, with a particular focus on technologies and product circularity. Aspects of nutraceuticals, circular economy, oil tourism and sustainability will thus be addressed, responding to the challenges of the present