These small Italian black olives are brine-cured. For centuries, the origins of olive-growing in Liguria have been a matter of debate and speculation for historians, philosophers and writers. All agree however, that olive groves form an essential part of the regional landscape. There is evidence that the olive tree was present in Liguria some 3,000 years before Christ, though it was only from the end of the eighteenth century that the groves began to expand on to hillsides and the lower slopes of the mountains right up to the point where the olive meets its climatic limit.

Archive documents indicate that between the end of the sixteenth and the early seventeenth century Benedetto introduced specialised olive-growing techniques to Western Liguria, hence the name of the Taggiasca cultivar is derived.