Discovering Puglia

We’ve been discovering Puglia in southeast Italy through some exciting new suppliers!

With its rolling olive groves, whitewashed villages, and distinctive trulli stone huts, Puglia has captured hearts worldwide—including Helen Mirren’s, who spends months each year in the coastal village of Tiggiano.

But beyond its tourist appeal, Puglia is Italy’s agricultural powerhouse, producing half the country’s olive oil and table grapes, plus the superb durum wheat that makes Italian pasta exceptional. Tomatoes, almonds, cherries, artichokes, carrots, peppers and even fennel—the list goes on.

We’d like to introduce three outstanding new suppliers who really showcase Puglia’s agricultural excellence: Famiglia Raguso, Naturpuglia, and Olearia Clemente.

Famiglia Raguso: Pasta without compromise

Notice the bold claim buona anche senza sugo—“good enough to eat without sauce!”—on Famiglia Raguso’s striking packaging? This artisanal pasta maker lives up to its promise with bronze die-cut pasta dried at low temperatures, crafted from heritage grains grown on their own fields between Apulia and Basilicata.

Committed to zero waste, zero pesticides, and zero km supply chain, Famiglia Raguso operates from an innovative pasta factory at the heart of their historic farm. They achieve full carbon neutrality through biomass boilers, solar power, and eco-sustainable cultivation, even using eco-friendly packaging made from responsibly sourced wood cellulose.

The Pasta Raguso traditional shapes include Puglia’s own beloved ear-shaped Orecchiette, distinctive Calamarata Rigavera ‘squid rings,’ and the pesto-ready twisted Trofie and Strozzapreti ‘priest-stranglers.’ The specialty varieties—vivid turmeric fusilli and striking squid-ink spaghetti—are equally impressive.

Naturpuglia: Ancient traditions in modern snacks

Naturpuglia celebrates local baking traditions with their delicious taralli—crunchy, pretzel-like rings that are essential for southern Italian aperitifs. Legend traces taralli to 15th-century Puglia, when a mother tried to feed her family during a famine by creating these rings from the only ingredients she had: flour, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and white wine.

Made without yeast and GMO-free, Naturpuglia’s taralli range still uses these same ingredients, sourced from Puglian local producers and double-cooked to golden perfection. Flavors like sesame, fennel and chilli make perfect additions to grazing platters; the Mediterranean and pizza flavours will cheer up any lunchbox; and the original Naturpuglia Taralli Classico pairs beautifully with that long-awaited Friday-night Aperol Spritz.

Olearia Clemente: 120 years of liquid gold

The Clemente family’s 120-year love affair with Puglia’s Gargano subregion began back in the late 1800s when Berardino Clemente watched boats carrying oil from the Mattinata plain. Today, the family operates 5,000 hectares of olive groves, creating EVOO full of the evocative aromas of wild rosemary and hints of orange blossom.

Their premium Clemente U Polp EVOO—cold-pressed from at least 70% prized Ogliarola Garganica olives with organic and DOP certifications—graces tables at top restaurants worldwide, alongside the elegant flagship Clemente 1895 Gourmet EVOO. Whether choosing the high-end Puglia IGP EVOO or Premium Organic EVOO, or even the everyday La Baia and Pomace varieties, each bottle captures the wild beauty of Gargano in every drop.

We hope you enjoy discovering beautiful Puglia through our new suppliers as much as we do.