Veronica Foods Company was founded in New York City in 1924 by Italian immigrant Salvatore Esposito. The Delizia olive oil brand was transferred from Naples, Italy and registered in the United States in the same year.

The Esposito family, which had grown to include four sons and two daughters, moved west to Oakland, California, in the late 1930’s with hopes of building the first olive oil mill in the United States. Those plans were put on indefinite hold when three of the four Esposito sons joined the military at the beginning of WWII.

 

 

The direction of the business remained the same under the capable hands of the eldest son Anthony Esposito. The olive oil portion of the business continued to exist as a remnant of an honored family tradition, accounting for less than six-tenths of one percent of company’s business during the mid 80's.

In the late 80’s the company took a renewed interest in olive oil as a viable business, and not just to honor a point of family history. Olive oil selection and understanding had always been the exclusive province of Anthony Esposito until his retirement in 1989 when the third generation, ours, stepped up to head the Company.