Introducing ourselves

The "Limoncello di Capri" and the "Cooperativa Solagri".

At the start of the last century, Vincenza Canale, owner of a hotel on the island of Capri, was the first to offer limoncello, derived from the Caprian word “limonillo”, to her guests. Her descendants formed the Limoncello di Capri S.r.L. in 1988, the first company to patent and use the word “Limoncello”. Continuing the old family tradition they now produce the “Limoncello di Capri” which is made by the cold infusion of the peel of lemons of Sorrento P.G.I.(protected geographical indication) totally in accordance with the strict technical discipline, without the addition of colour, stabilisers and flavourings. The most precious ingredients of the Limoncello di Capri are the P.G.I lemons of Sorrento, cultivated and picked by the Solagri cooperative; about 200 farmers who guarantee the use of old techniques of cultivation, the harvest by stages of the fruit, and the use of organic integrated fertilisers without the addition of chemical fertilisers or pharmaceuticals.
The Solagri cooperative was established in 1994 thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and love of his land of Mariano Valentino Vinaccia, a young farmer, with the sole ambition of saving the lemon of Sorrento from extinction. With this aim in mind, Mr Vinaccia founded, together with 9 friends, the Solagri cooperative. The Solagri relaunched the cultivation of the Sorrento lemon, which over the past decades had become uneconomical due to the lack of appropriate commercial methods and inadequate policies for the validation of the product. The coming together of over 200 associates and the obtaining of the protected geographical indication (P.G.I.) issued by the European Community have made the Solagri an example to be followed not only in the agricultural industry of the Sorrentine peninsula, but also for the producers of the traditional “Liqueur di limoni di Sorrento”.