Located at the heel of the boot, Puglia is one of Italy's oldest and most distinctive agricultural regions — famous for wine, tarallucci, orecchiette, and above all, olive oil. Puglia is the largest producer of olive oil in Italy, responsible for roughly 40% of the country's total output in a good harvest year. For context on how that fits the national picture, see our complete guide to Italian extra virgin olive oil.
While we farm in Calabria, the health of the Puglian industry affects the entire global olive oil market. This post covers the region's geography, its key cultivars, and the existential threat it is currently facing.
The Geography and History of Puglia
Puglia is a narrow peninsula with hundreds of kilometers of coastline along both the Adriatic and Ionian seas — so flat in its northern plain (the Tavoliere delle Puglie) that you can drive from one coast to the other in under an hour. This flatness, unusual for southern Italy, makes large-scale mechanical harvesting practical and is one reason Puglia produces so much oil by volume.
The southern part of the region — Salento — is part of what the Romans called Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). During the 8th century BC, Greek colonists settled these coastal areas and brought with them their language, customs, and olive trees. The same Greek colonization that shaped Calabrian olive culture also planted the roots of Puglia's ancient groves. Many of the trees standing in Salento today are descendants of those first plantings — some estimated to be over a thousand years old.
Puglia's Key Olive Cultivars
Italy is home to over 650 olive cultivars, more than any other country in the world, and Puglia contributes significantly to that diversity. The most important varieties include:
- Coratina: Named after the town of Corato, this is the dominant cultivar of Puglia and one of the most recognized in the world. Coratina produces an intensely fruity oil with pronounced bitterness, strong peppery spice, and very high polyphenol content. It is not subtle — and that is exactly why serious olive oil buyers seek it out.
- Cellina di Nardò: A Salento staple with an unusual berry-forward flavor profile alongside the more typical almond and artichoke notes. Used for both oil and table olives.
- Peranzana: Found primarily in the north of Puglia, producing a more balanced, elegant oil with less intensity than Coratina.
- Ogliarola Salentina and Ogliarola Barese: Widely planted traditional varieties with a milder, more rounded profile — workhorses of the regional blending tradition.
- Bella di Cerignola: One of the world's most famous table olives, large and meaty, primarily eaten rather than pressed.
The Xylella Crisis: Why Puglia's Trees Are Dying
Puglia is in the middle of one of the most serious agricultural crises in modern Italian history. Millions of ancient olive trees across the Salento peninsula are dying from a plant bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa, first detected in the region in 2013. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Xylella is one of the most dangerous plant-pathogenic bacteria in the world. Records indicate that over 21 million trees have been affected.
How Xylella Spreads
Xylella is transmitted by a small insect called a spittlebug (or froghopper — sputacchina in Italian). The spittlebug feeds on an infected tree, picks up the bacteria, and carries it to healthy trees. Once inside, Xylella colonizes the tree's xylem — the vessels that carry water and nutrients from root to branch — and slowly blocks them. The tree appears dehydrated and burnt, with scorched leaves and dying branches. There is currently no cure. The only management strategy is removing infected trees and replanting with resistant varieties.
The Economic Stakes
A peer-reviewed model published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by researchers at Wageningen University estimates the potential economic impact of Xylella on Italian olive growers at between €1.9 billion and €5.2 billion over 50 years, depending on the rate of spread and whether replanting with resistant cultivars is feasible. These figures do not account for the cultural heritage value of groves that are centuries old.
Is There a Solution?
Researchers have identified several cultivars with natural resistance to Xylella, most notably Leccino and FS-17. This is genuinely good news for farmers who have lost their groves. However, widespread replanting with only a handful of resistant varieties creates a different set of problems: loss of cultivar biodiversity, market homogeneity, and reduced ecosystem resilience. Italy's extraordinary diversity of native cultivars is precisely what makes its olive oil so distinctive — and that diversity is at risk if the industry narrows to only what survives Xylella.
Farmers, researchers, biologists, and agronomists are working to identify more resistant varieties and develop management strategies that preserve biodiversity while protecting the industry. The work is urgent and far from finished.
What This Means for the Industry
Driving through Salento today is heartbreaking — rows of dead trees, grey and leafless, standing in groves that families farmed for generations. For many Puglian families, those groves were not just a business but a birthright — trees planted by grandparents and great-grandparents, living connections to the past.
Many farmers are replanting continuously, and production in Puglia is expected to recover as new resistant groves mature. For now, we are safe in Calabria — knock on wood — and we are acutely aware of what is at stake across the region. The truth about Italian olive oil production is that the south drives the entire industry, and what happens in Puglia matters to everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Puglia known for in olive oil?
Puglia is Italy's largest olive oil producing region, responsible for roughly 40% of national output in a healthy harvest year. It is best known for the Coratina cultivar — one of the most polyphenol-rich, intensely flavored olives in the world — and for its ancient groves, some of which are over a thousand years old.
What is Xylella fastidiosa doing to Italian olive trees?
Xylella fastidiosa is a bacteria transmitted by a small insect called a spittlebug. It blocks the tree's water-conducting vessels, causing it to desiccate and die. First detected in Puglia in 2013, it has since affected over 21 million trees in the Salento peninsula and represents one of the gravest threats the Italian olive oil industry has ever faced.
Is Puglian olive oil extra virgin?
It can be — Puglia produces all grades of olive oil, from the finest single-estate extra virgin to bulk commodity oil. To ensure you are buying genuine extra virgin from a named Puglian producer, look for a harvest date, a specific region of origin, and dark packaging. Our guide on how to spot fake olive oil covers what to look for in detail.
How does Puglian olive oil differ from Calabrian olive oil?
Puglia is predominantly flat, which favors large-scale production and cultivars like Coratina — intensely peppery, high in polyphenols, and bold. Calabria is mountainous with two coastlines and far more geographic diversity, producing a wider range of flavor profiles from a greater variety of native cultivars. Puglian oil tends toward intensity; Calabrian oil spans a broader spectrum. Neither is superior — they serve different palates and uses.
Shop our 100% Italian extra virgin olive oil, made in Calabria, single origin, and family farmed since 1927.
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You May Also Like
- Calabrian Olive Oil: Cultivars, Terroir, and Why It Belongs in Your Kitchen
- The Truth About Olive Oil From Italy
- The Complete Guide to Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Have a question about Puglia or the Xylella crisis? Leave a comment below! Tag your cooking on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok with #EXAUoliveoil.
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