Clay is one of the oldest packaging materials in the world - and for good reason. The Romans, Greeks, and Phoenicians stored their olive oil and wine in clay amphorae because clay can do something that almost no other material can: completely block light, keep temperatures stable, and remain chemically completely neutral. What was true two thousand years ago is still true today. Olive oil has three enemies - light, heat, and oxygen - and glazed ceramics parry all three at once. Transparent glass does not, and plastic certainly does not.

And yet: while everyone has a Peugeot pepper mill on their countertop, there’s hardly anything similar for olive oil. The bottles on the market are usually made of glass, offering little protection for the taste, colour and quality of what’s inside. For us, that was an unsatisfactory answer to a simple question.

So, we designed our own bottles - two sizes, a larger 250ml and a smaller 150ml. A contemporary, minimalist design that feels at home in a modern kitchen and on a restaurant table, yet with an unmistakable nod to the Mediterranean carafe. We developed the design ourselves and had three master moulds made by a local manufacturer. With these master moulds in hand, the real search began: finding a producer who could artisanally translate the bottles, with handcraft, and who met the strictest European standards for food safety.

That search led us to the Carpathians. There, we found a company that has been manufacturing high-quality ceramics for customers throughout Europe for decades, and that keeps production entirely in-house. A partner with the same dedication to craftsmanship as ourselves – and with whom we are already looking ahead to new ceramic products for the future of Maison Zitoun.

Our bottles are therefore not a passing fad. They are the contemporary version of a solution that the Mediterranean has known for centuries - better than ever, and finally elegant enough to remain on the table.