Our story

The long tradition of our family in the cultivation and processing of olives began thanks to the desire and entrepreneurial spirit of our grandfather, Lino Lonari, and our grandmother, Pasqualina Ciolli.

The name of our mill is inspired by the beautiful centuries-old almonds that surround the entire property (mandorla means almond in Italian). The love for this land and for its silvery olive trees has always involved all the members of the family.

Il Frantoio Il Mandorlo was founded by Grandfather Lino in 1974 with the idea of having greater control of the olive oil supply chain, from the harvest to crushing the olives and offering a high-quality product.

Over the years, our oil mill has undergone, and still undergoes continuous evolution; our mill has followed organic production methods since the early 2000s.

Our father Luciano Ronca specialised his studies in olive oil extraction and to become an expert taster. He renewed our internal oil production by implementing a selection mechanism of the olive varieties in the field, with the possibility of being able to differentiate the various qualities of the oil and individually enhance their merits.

In 2002, Grandfather Lino received the prestigious Fiorino d’oro from the mayor Leonardo Domenici, as our mill was the only remaining one in the entire municipal territory throughout the metropolitan area of Florence to press olives itself.

Grandpa Lino’s death in 2017 deeply affected our family, but his values and teachings have remained firm in the hearts and minds of us all.

We constantly update our knowledge on harvesting methods, on the different varieties of olives, on the crushing.

On 25 May 2019 Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence, came to visit Il Frantoio Il Mandorlo.

This laborious love for olive growing has allowed us to receive numerous awards and recognitions at national and international level for our production of extra virgin olive oil over the years.