Alivu

Alivu We set up Alivu to bring our Extra Virgin Olive Oil from our family olives in Sicily to the UK. Now we are ready to release our delicious oil on you Brits.

Archaeologists and qualified oil tasters, we are obsessed with telling our oil's story, and that of all the small oil producers in the Mediterranean. Paolo and I have been bragging about his family's organic extra virgin Olive Oil for years. We spent some time in Sicily in 2014-15, getting to know the ropes, and planting a new grove. Are you ready for a treat?

03/06/2026

Proper treat last night heading to Citizens of Soil’s press night launching this new book “Drizzle” on EV olive oil. With recipes from around the Mediterranean, pairing suggestions and a useful guide to EVOO at the start. Although we aren’t part of Sarah’s growing network of female led regenerative oil producers (we’re too small) I feel very much part of her community and am grateful to her for shifting the culture of EVOO in the UK.

Last night was also the launch of her pop-up Olive Oil Bar. Uber trendy but earthy too. I met many other oil producers who feature in her book; Maria - Sarah’s original producer and inspiration and the wonderful founders of Heather and Baba

So head to Monmouth St near Covent Garden during June to try some fantastic oils and pick up a copy of her book “Drizzle” published by

Let us know if you try our family recipe (although I think .piccione made me my first ever polpette di melanzane in Rome. Yum. Grazie Palei tvb)

28/05/2026



What’s it like to taste over 100 oils in 3 days? Quite quiet actually with occasional laughter (hard not to when sharing a table with Claudio) and lots to learn from both table members.

Hear I filmed us tasting three different oils - so three different reactions - only one medal.

What did we decide? Judges stay quiet the first few seconds after a taste adding their scores to the judging platform - but sometimes the reactions are obvious.

The first two received no medals - listen closely and you’ll find out why. The third oil had no defects and all three qualities but didn’t sing.



Come and see us at The Market Cross! Sadly we won’t be at South Cerney tomorrow.
24/05/2026

Come and see us at The Market Cross! Sadly we won’t be at South Cerney tomorrow.

21/05/2026

This weekend!! Let’s bust some myths together and taste extra virgin!
.malmesbury

Fun for Alivu this spring summer - give us a shout if you want to organise a tasting or know of a market we should be at...
18/05/2026

Fun for Alivu this spring summer - give us a shout if you want to organise a tasting or know of a market we should be at!

Eat Festival - Sunday 24th May 10-4
We managed to sneak in at the last minute to this big food festival so come and find us at the Market Cross.

South Cerney Street Fair - Monday 25th May - 10-5
This is a big deal, not only is this the home of the famous Duck Race, there are loads of great food and gift stalls, including ours! We nearly sold out of our stock last time we did this so we will be filling the Alivu van to the brim. Buy a duck race ticket here South Cerney Street Fair – Home of The Grand Duck Race!

Wine and oil tasting Thursday 11th June - this event is still to be 100% confirmed but watch this space (or pop into the Wine shop and ask!)

Crudwell Strawberry Fayre Saturday 11th Sunday 12th July 11-4
This is one of our favourite markets - it brings the whole community together: people of all ages descend on the village green to enjoy wonderful juicy strawberries. There are musical performances throughout the weekend, and a range of stalls. All be proceeds go to the church.

16/05/2026

Alivu is spanning boarders with Paolo visiting family whilst I look after the future back in Wiltshire. I called during a visit to the groves. Flowers! It was all so green! It’s been raining a lot but thankfully it’s not torrential-this would wash away the pollen. Rain is much needed after a long period of drought which finally broke last year.

Rain fed groves are becoming rarer. Olives are evolved to cope and even thrive on water stress, but this doesn’t mean high yields. We are all part of a system - extracting water from water tables creates a destructive feedback loop where a destabilized water cycle further worsens drought conditions. Farmer or consumer - what choices will you make?

15/05/2026

Finally able to look back at the fun I had last week - a game of contrasts. As jury we sit for 4-5 hours, slurping and quietly discussing the entries: there is an air of solemn respect - these are the results of thousands of hours of blood sweat and tears - each drop of extra virgin olive oil is hard won. We also learn from each other, persuade each other, cross check, check again, and sometimes again just to be sure. Then we let off steam. Shout out to and his crew to our head judge and to all the fellow jury members - I’m sure I’ve missed someone but here we go .oliveoilguy .frito.uk .jukic.spika

13/05/2026

This Friday 15th May at 7:00pm - Award winning travel writer at the Town Hall.

Enjoy a great talk with award winning travel writer Richard Collett on ‘Along the Borders – A search for what divides and unites the British Isles’.

It's on Friday 15th May at 7:00pm at Malmesbury Town Hall. Everyone is welcome! Last few tickets remaining.

Richard's talk is based on his new book ‘Along the Borders’, published by Penguin, which chronicles his multi-year journey exploring through hundreds of miles of borderlands across Britain. At heart it's about the people that live in borderlands, how our borders and boundaries are bridged, and how they bring us together.

It will resonate here in Malmesbury and across North Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire. Our local history has been shaped by our place as an influential Anglo-Saxon border area between the Kingdom of the West Saxons and Mercia and Richard will highlight what this has meant over the years. He knows us well. Just last September he wrote a major article for BBC Travel on the Athelstan Pilgrim Way.

Tickets are just £10 each and can be purchased at http://malmesburycivictrust.eventbrite.com/ (booking fee applies) and in store at Barn Owl Books.

Malmesbury Civic Trust is pleased to be presenting this talk with the support of Barn Owl Books and Athelstan 1100. Richard will be happy to sign copies of his book after the talk. You can pre-order ‘Along the Borders’ from Barn Owl Books https://www.barnowlbooks.co.uk/events-and-whats-on and copies will be for sale on the night.

09/05/2026

Day 3 table 1 is getting into the zone

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