The del Balzo di Presenzano family is one of the seven royal families of the Kingdom of Naples, dating back to 952 AD. Their passion for agriculture started over 100 years ago, in the hills of Puglia. As landowners in the regions of Campania, Puglia and Calabria, the family was dedicated to harvesting classical Mediterranean crops, including tomatoes and olives.
The tomato, just imported into Europe from the Americas, was a subject of great interest for the del Balzo family who dedicated itself to this crop. The cultivation of the olive treeinstead begun in the 30s in Puglia, in the province of Lecce, in the property that belonged to the Granito di Belmonte family.
The tomato and the olives represent for Ferdinando del Balzo the intimate bond with the land transferred to him by his father Antonio, a farmer.
From a young age he participated in the tomato harvest in the Battipaglia plain and in the olive harvest at the Lecce estate. Thanks to his expertise as a chemist, he took part in the industrial production in the three different plants in the AgroNocerino Area, Campania, with his brother.
The love for the land continued also in the following years until the realization of his dream, creating the society that would allow him to take advanceof the acquired experiences and his great passion.
Thus, was born in 1985 Mediterranea Italia.