Heritagization and extra virgin olive oil packaging in Apulia

Bibliographic Data

ID19222149
AuthorsFabio De Leonardis (Shanghai International Studies University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages1-24
Publication date2026-06-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Semiotics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1035-0330 • E-ISSN: 1470-1219
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10350330.2026.2667944
OpenAlexW7164037474
LanguageEN
References cited29

This article analyses the packaging of two oil-producing companies from the Italian region of Apulia. Using the tools of Multimodal Analysis, the paper argues that these companies’ packaging design shows a tendency to emphasize the commodity’s close connection to a certain territory and its “traditional” way of production, implicitly valorized as markers of high quality and as signs of distinction for consumers, although the actual production chain is much more technologized, and the labour involved is provided mostly by foreign seasonal workers. Such valorization is inscribed within a food discourse that sees extra-virgin olive oil as a key component of a healthy diet and the consumption of terroir-produced foodstuff as a way to achieve health. This discourse, in turn, aligns with the neoliberal view, which sees health not as dependent on social factors but as the outcome of individual choices. The heritagization of olive oil is also put into relation to the wider process of heritagization of Apulian food

Consumption (sociology) · Inscribed figure · Olive oil · Process (computing) · Production (economics) · Quality (philosophy) · Relation (database) · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Organic Food and Agriculture

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