Antonio G. Lauro
Antonio G. Lauro, agronomist and officer of Regione Calabria – Department of Agriculture and ARSAC – Company for the Development of Agriculture in Calabria, is an agricultural trainer specializing in olive growing. For years he has been a consultant in the olive oil sector, and as an expert in sensory analysis, he deals with the marketing of agri-food products, with particular reference to extra virgin olive oil. Professional taster, he was the founder of the “Prim’Olio” olive oil tasting committee and is sworn in the major national and international competitions on olive oil. President and founder in 2016 of the “Domina IOOC” competition, renamed “EVO IOOC – EVO International Olive Oil Contest” since 2018, he is co-founder (2010) of the “TerraOlivo Jerusalem Award”, of which he is responsible for the tastings (Panel Leader ). He has been in charge of the Panel of the international competition dedicated to quality EVOOs “OLIVINUS Argentina Award”, and was one of the panel leaders of the “OLIVE JAPAN” Competition. Panel Leader of the Japan Olive Oil Prize (JOOP) competition, he collaborated with Athena IOOC. Panel Leader of the “NYIOOC – New York World Olive Oil Competition”, and of Anatolian IOOC, he teaches the courses for Olive Oil Sommelier of the IOOS International Olive Oil School based in New York, San Francisco (California) and London, promoted by Olive Oil Times Education Lab and from the International Culinary Center; moreover, he teaches in training courses in the olive oil sector organized by other institutions in Italy and in many parts of the world (USA, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Norway, Spain, China, Greece, Japan, Azerbaijan, etc. .). He is the author of numerous thematic publications and collaborates, since 1995, with many specialized magazines as a freelance author, and, since 2008, he manages “Antonio Lauro, the Blog”, a very popular blog dedicated to the EVOO world.
Stefania Reggio
For over 20 years she worked in the tourism sector and in the management of major events, becoming CEO of a major company in the industry.
Since 2017 Stefania deals with consultancy and training, providing courses of business organization, event management, effective communication, conflict management, trading.
She’s also a certified PROCESS COMMUNICATION MODEL® (PCM) trainer, a method counting more than 30 years of studies and applications in every sector and profile, from managers, doctors, teachers up to NASA astronauts.
Along with Antonio G. Lauro, she founded EVO IOOC and immediately took over the General Administration of the contest. She’s a strong believer in innovation, pushing her to look for new challenges and to innovate the traditional format of the extra virgin olive oil contests.
Leonardo Castellani
Leonardo R. Castellani (Winemaker) has been the general coordinator of the EVO IOOC competition since its first edition. Coordinator of international wine and spirits and olive oil competitions, Leonardo has been sworn in international wine and spirits competitions since 1997. He is currently the most active general coordinator of samples (olive oils, wines and spirits) in the world and has served as co-director of over 160 international wine competitions and 30 international olive oil competitions.
Davide V. Lauro
After a scientific and agricultural education, Davide V. Lauro became a professional EVOO Assessor in 2014. He works in the restaurant industry and Davide has participated, as technical assistant, in many extra virgin olive oil courses, masterclasses, guided tastings. He has been the director and coordinator of the EVO IOOC Italy tasting room since the year that the contest was founded in 2016.