Face to face with: LILIBEO OLIVE OIL | SANA Partner

January 2026

LiliBeo is an organic extra virgin olive oil, a blend of three native varieties grown on our farm in Partinico, in north-western Sicily—an area particularly well suited to olive cultivation thanks to the balance between maritime influence and the surrounding hills.
Our motto is “Dress your everyday meal”—an invitation to rediscover the value of small, everyday things. Olive oil is the language we have chosen to tell a story of a way of life rooted in slowness, awareness, and care—for oneself and for one’s community.

What inspired your participation in SANA Food 2026, and what goals or expectations are guiding you in this new edition?

Sana Food is a trade fair that reflects our values and our ambitions. Our values are deeply connected to our identity, the land we come from, and its enhancement. First and foremost, we are farmers, and we are well aware that agriculture, by its very nature, is not an environmentally ideal activity—but it can be practiced responsibly. Certified organic farming, combined with regenerative practices, helps us keep our soils fertile. We carefully select suppliers and materials that allow us to minimize our impact on the planet’s precious resources. This commitment is non-negotiable and lies at the very heart of a trade fair like Sana. For this reason, we have chosen to be here today, because we know that our efforts are recognized and appreciated on this occasion.

Today’s consumers are increasingly conscious about health and well-being. How has this awareness influenced your production choices or inspired new product concepts?

Today we know that 81% of consumers say they behave sustainably whenever they have the opportunity, yet one third of them report not finding sustainable alternatives on store shelves (NielsenIQ, 2023). This gap highlights how important it is for companies to be credible and consistent in what they offer. 

For this reason, in our company organic farming was only a starting point. We also chose to rethink packaging, opting for the bag-in-box format—a solution that has long been undervalued in the olive oil sector because it was considered less “attractive” than the elegant extra virgin olive oil bottles we are used to seeing. We decided to take a different path. We are not interested in aesthetics for their own sake. Packaging is not just about appearance, but about function and responsibility. Today, LiliBeo bag-in-box packaging is:

1. more sustainable than glass bottles, saving up to 80% of CO₂ emissions;
2. able to keep the oil fresh for months, protecting it from light and air;
3. equipped with a practical tap, allowing the oil to be poured directly into the cruet.

Alongside these choices, we are committed to preserving our centuries-old olive trees and recovering native olive varieties at risk of extinction, because we believe that sustainability cannot truly exist without placing the biodiversity of one’s own territory at its core.

Tradition and innovation often go hand in hand in a company’s growth journey. How do you manage to honor your roots while giving them a contemporary interpretation?

Our olive trees are the most authentic expression of our roots: they embody our past and the place we belong to. Talking about our land, the varieties we grow, our soils, and how we protect them for future generations is our way of giving value to this heritage.
At the same time, tradition also needs to evolve. This is why we have chosen to innovate in terms of packaging, communication, and consumer insight. Understanding our customers better has allowed us to improve our commercial offering, making it more thoughtful and effective. 

A concrete example of this approach is our subscription system, which enables customers to place a single order and receive the oil gradually over time. This helps avoid stocking large quantities at home—a practice that is still common but often detrimental, as olive oil can quickly lose quality if not stored properly. In this way, we seek to harness the strength of our tradition to drive meaningful improvement, especially in a sector like olive oil, which is still full of clichés and habits that need to be rethought.

Transparency, sustainability, and traceability have become essential values in today’s market. How do you bring these principles to life in your distribution practices?

We adopt distribution practices aimed at reducing environmental impact, including transport optimization, the use of more sustainable packaging, collaboration with logistics partners who are attentive to emissions, and the promotion of production methods that respect the land and natural resources. At the same time, we place great value on direct and ongoing relationships with our partners, allowing us to build trust- and respect-based collaborations that go beyond mere commercial interest. For this reason, we ensure clear and transparent communication, starting from the very first stages of negotiation.