Nolano.San Marzano tomatoes from three generations in Campania.
A family farm in Acerra, just north of Naples, growing San Marzano DOP and plum tomatoes organically and controlling every step from the field to the tin.
The family
Three generations of tomatoes.
Ciro Nolano began growing tomatoes in Acerra in the early 1960s. His son Pasquale and grandson Dario have carried the work on, and the farm is now in its third generation.
Today the family farms organically and controls everything from field to tin: they grow the tomatoes, pick them and preserve them themselves.
Nolano
1960s
When Ciro Nolano planted his first tomatoes in Acerra. Three generations later, the family still grows, picks and tins them all itself.
A way forward from the land
Ciro Nolano’s father died when Ciro was six, leaving him and his five brothers. Resourceful and determined, he saw in the land around Acerra a way to give his family a future, and in the early 1960s he founded the farm. Its most prized crop then was the San Marzano tomato, and it still is.
His eldest son Pasquale grew up in the fields. He studied how to improve the way San Marzano was grown and the quality of the fruit, became a reference point for local growers, and founded the cooperative of San Marzano tomato farmers in the Agro Nolano.
Losing San Marzano, and bringing it back
In 1991 a devastating virus wiped out San Marzano. The family kept the farm and its land going by turning to other local crops, and at the same time the long work of saving the variety began. After years of research a genetic solution was found, San Marzano returned to its former quality, and Nolano went back to the tomato it was built on.
Since then the farm has converted to organic. That has meant a return to traditional growing, close attention to every plant and every stage, and strict organic protocols. Nolano describes its purpose simply: protecting the land means protecting the future.
From field to tin
Pasquale’s son Dario joined after studying and working abroad, convinced that the only way to protect quality was to control the whole chain. Today Nolano is fully integrated, from the seed through growing, harvest and processing to sale, and the tomatoes are processed only a few kilometres from the fields, on equipment used only for San Marzano DOP.
How a San Marzano is grown
It starts with the seed. Only seed from the strongest plants, the ones that produced the best fruit at every stage, is kept, and it is sown in trays that float on water for around a month. The young plants are then set into the field one by one.
San Marzano grows tall, so once a plant passes 30cm it is tied to wooden stakes and twine running along the rows, and the ties are renewed twice a week until it reaches about two metres. Harvest begins in the second half of July and moves up the plant tier by tier, with around four pickings as each level ripens. The time from picking to processing is kept as short as possible, so the fruit keeps its flavour.
What makes a San Marzano
San Marzano has been grown on the volcanic land around Vesuvius for centuries, and since 1996 it has been protected as Pomodoro San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP. To carry the name, it must be grown and processed in a small set of towns in the provinces of Naples, Salerno and Avellino, Acerra among them.
The tomatoes are long and tapered, with thin, even skins, few seeds and firm pulp that is soft on the palate. The aroma is intense, and the flavour is that distinctive balance of sweetness and acidity. On a margherita or a marinara the tomato has nowhere to hide, and these stand out for their gentle sweetness and rounded flavour.
Our choice
Why we chose Nolano
Six reasons Nolano is the tomato on our list.
01
Quality
Organic farming, seed chosen from the strongest plants, and processing a few kilometres from the field on lines used only for San Marzano DOP. Every step that affects the tin is in the family’s own hands.
02
Consistency
Because Nolano grows, picks and tins its own tomatoes, there is no blending of fruit from unknown farms. That gives a kitchen what it needs most from a tinned tomato: the same result, tin after tin.
03
Story
Three generations of one family, a variety lost and brought back, and a farm that went organic. It is a producer worth naming on a menu, and one your guests can trust.
04
Flavour
Gentle natural sweetness, balanced acidity and a rounded, intense flavour. A margherita or marinara needs little more than these, a pinch of salt and a hot oven, and the natural depth carries long-cooked ragù too.
05
Texture
Firm, substantial pulp with thin skins and few seeds. It crushes easily by hand for pizza, holds up in a very hot oven, and cooks down into a full-bodied sauce for pasta.
06
Value
With plenty of pulp and few seeds, more of each 2.5kg tin goes into the sauce. And the plum tomatoes bring Nolano’s standards to an everyday price point, so you can use one supplier across the whole menu.
On our list
The Nolano tomatoes we import
Two tomatoes in catering 2.5kg tins, six to a case.
The tomatoes
02 products / Campania01 Nolano
San Marzano DOP Peeled Plum Tomatoes
Pomodoro San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP
Peeled tomatoes
The tomato for margherita and marinara.
Whole San Marzano tomatoes from the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino, peeled and packed in their own juice to keep their delicate flavour and firm texture. Long and thin-skinned, with few seeds, gentle sweetness and a rounded flavour. Certified DOP to guarantee authenticity.
02 Nolano
Peeled Plum Tomatoes
Whole peeled tomatoes · Campania
Peeled tomatoes
San Marzano expertise, applied to an everyday plum tomato.
Whole peeled tomatoes grown, processed and preserved in Campania, where the volcanic soil and southern sun give rich flavour and firm texture. The care Nolano puts into its San Marzano carries through to these, and lifts them well above an ordinary plum tomato.
For your kitchen
Bring Nolano to your kitchen.
Ask your account manager about availability across the Nolano range.
Call or email to place your order01474 360 081orders@divineimporters.co.uk
View the San Marzano DOP
