My name is Filippo Aranzulla. I was born and raised in Calw, the hometown of Hermann Hesse. That's why I feel a close connection to both our Swabian region and my family's homeland in Sicily. After my grandfather's death in 2008, I took over the management of his small olive grove. The small olive grove has been in the family for centuries. Over time, my ancestors gained valuable experience in the extraction and production of high-quality organic olive oil. And this knowledge has been passed down from one generation to the next. My father, Salvatore Aranzulla, and I have made it our life's work to lovingly and sustainably keep this tradition alive. We would like to bring a piece of Sicily home with you. In Sicily, the climate is classically Mediterranean, with dry, hot summers on the one hand and relatively humid and mild winters on the other. And our olive groves offer extremely mineral-rich and nutrient-rich soil due to their proximity to the infamous Etna volcano. These are the ideal conditions for our small-scale olive cultivation. We love the land and nature. We want to keep our impact on nature, the fruit, and thus on oil production to a minimum. Harvesting and tree care are therefore carried out exclusively by hand. We traditionally use a long, peeled, softly sanded, and fire-dried walnut branch. With targeted blows, we gently pluck the olives from the tree. This slow but stress-free process for the tree avoids mechanical harvesting, in which the tractor grabs the tree by the trunk and, with strong and aggressive shaking, causes the olives to fall to the ground. We want to spare our beloved trees this torture. We even keep our distance from all other motor vehicles. This protects our trees from harmful exhaust fumes. And chainsaws are not used for tree care either. Here, we exclusively use power tools to avoid pollutants and noise. We also avoid the use of any chemicals. "We are absolute nature lovers." Trees communicate with each other and constantly absorb information from the environment through their leaves and root tips. My father therefore taught me early on to talk to nature and plants, and above all, to thank them regularly. If we accidentally damage or intentionally cut off a branch, we speak to the tree and sincerely apologize. We explain to it with caring words that it is only for its own good if we prune and care for it, and that it will grow even healthier next year. The birds native to Sicily and all of Italy also have their rights and should be appreciated. We always leave a few olives for them. And branches with a bird's nest or trees with a bee's nest are not harvested at all. Purity is our highest priority, not only during production, but also during the long journey our precious olive oil takes to reach your home and your dinner table. You can clearly taste the love we put into planting, caring, and harvesting our olives, as well as our centuries-old family tradition.