Maria Grazia Barone is the owner of ARCAVERDE, a family olive oil business. Although she lived in Calabria from the time she was born, she did not begin to work with olive oil until she was an adult. In fact, for many years she studied musicology and taught music, and during this time, the olive grove was for her only a pleasant place in which to walk. Then, in 1992, Maria Grazia took over management of the family business, which had belonged to her grandparents.
Commuting between Brescia (where she now lives with her family) and Cerchiara di Calabria, she began to learn all about growing olives. She was determined to maintain just the right balance between modernity and tradition, quality product and respect for the environment. Today, believing that it is very important to spread knowledge about the production of high-quality extra virgin olive oil, Maria Grazia teaches numerous olive oil tasting courses and writes educational articles about oil that are published in specialized magazines.
Several years ago the Italian Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Olio (ONAOO) awarded her the title of "Taster of Oils from Olives", and she is a member of the National List of Experts and Specialized Workers in Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. She regularly acts as an oil taster for the AIPOL Panel (Associazione Interprovinciale Produttori Olivicoli Lombardi - an association of olive oil producers in Lombardia) and also sits on panels of qualified tasters for numerous national and international competitions.

Maria Grazia is seconded in her work of running the family business by her husband, Arnaldo Caruso, who shares her love of everything to do with olives. In addition to his teaching duties as Professor of Microbiology at the University of Brescia, Dr Caruso is involved in medical research, and his passion for the world of olives has led him to extend his research into this arena. Specifically, he does experiments which examine the biological activity (antiviral and anti-inflammatory) of certain components of olive oil. This research is part of a very broad project which brings together researchers from all over Italy, and is coordinated by the Istituto Sperimentale per l'Olivicoltura (Experimental Institute for Olive Growing, or ISO).