Bertolli is a historical Italian brand for Extra Vergine Olive Oil. It grew into an international brand of Italian and Mediterranean food. The company was founded in 1865, in Lucca, Tuscany, by Francesco Bertolli, and was then bought by Unilever.
Bertolli is known for its olive oil, in which it is the global market leader, but has now widened its range to include pasta sauces and ready meals.
In 2008, Unilever sold the olive oil business to Grupo SOS, Spain’s second-largest food group, for £500m as part of its disposal of non-core businesses. The transaction included the sale of the Italian Maya, Dante, and San Giorgio olive oil and seed oil businesses, as well as the factory at Inveruno, Province of Milan, Lombardy; Unilever retained the Bertolli brand for all other categories including margarine, pasta sauces, and frozen meals.
The frozen foods business under the Bertolli brand name was sold by Unilever to ConAgra Foods in August of 2012.
Bertolli gained notoriety in 2010 when its Extra Virgin Olive Oil was identified as one of the olive oils mislabeled as Extra Virgin in a 2010 study by UC Davis.