Francesca has been an ONAOO Professional Taster since 2018; she also became Coach in online courses.

She is also an olive grower and an importer of extra virgin olive oil.

For about 20 years Francesca has been in the oil sector starting as a passionate olive grower thanks to the family-owned olive groves.

Francesca has gained a deep knowledge of extra virgin olive oil from agriculture to pressing, from consultancy to marketing. She is an expert in the production of extra virgin olive oil from both Italy and the main European and North African oil producing countries.

Francesca becomes an importer of high quality extra virgin olive oil for the Dutch market; she is a consultant for specialized dealers and for catering regarding the sale, use and knowledge of the oil.

In 2018 she also obtained a diploma as a Health Coach from the INN “Institute for Integrative Nutrition and Health Coaching” in New York.

Francesca has a degree in Psychology from the G. D’Annunzio University. Before embarking on the profession in the oil and food sector, he worked for 15 years for a world leader in the sportswear sector.

He has been Senior Brand Manager at Haugen-Gruppen AS, the largest food import company in Norway, with particular attention to the import, sales and marketing of internationally known brands.

Working in the food sector for more than 25 years, in companies such as Nestlé, Mars and Haugen-Gruppen AS.

The interest in olive oil began when he joined Haugen-Gruppen in 2000, with the role of Key Account Manager, with the job of selling olive oil to the main retail chains in Norway. For 15 years he has played the role of brand manager in the retail sector and for 3 years he has been brand manager in the Food Service sector.

He attended a technical course for olive oil tasters in 2015 and immediately afterwards he started his training to become Professional Taster ONAOO 2016. Been participated in International Meetings for “ONAOO tasters” since 2017. He has participated in several olive collections and pressing in Spain, Italy and Greece over the past 12 years, to learn about the different “cultures” in olive oil production (from small producers to large-scale productions) and to understand the differences.

With his knowledge he has been carrying out olive oil tasting with managers of the main chains (both in the Food Service sector and in the retail sector), shop managers, journalists, private sales organizations, and individuals as often as possible, trying to make the Norwegians understand what extra virgin olive oil really is.

Now he runs his own company Lukt, smak og nyt (smell, taste and enjoy) teaching consumers how to select and use extra virgin olive oil as a part time job and hobby.

Sandro Marques is a lecturer on Food Studies and author of several books, including “The Guide to Brazilian Olive Oil”, in its third edition.

As an olive oil taster and writer, Sandro helps olive oil producers develop their storytelling and brand narrative.

He worked as an apprentice at several starred restaurants in Brazil and since 2010 has been a judge at the most important Brazilian food and culinary awards. In 2018 his book “Desserts for Princesses” was chosen by the Brazilian Federal Education Bureau to be distributed nationwide because of its educational content.

He also wrote “What do the astronauts eat?”, a children’s book celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Mission. Sandro Marques is an international speaker and a judge at several olive oil competitions. In 2016 he became Member of ONAOO where he also started his educational path.

In 2020 he concluded his studies by obtaining the Qualification of ONAOO Professional Taster.