# Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria: a DOP on the oil

> Bergamot oil from Reggio Calabria has been a DOP since March 15, 2001, extracted cold on a coastal strip of about 100 km at Calabria's southern tip.

URL: https://myitalia.it/food/bergamotto-di-reggio
Last updated: 2026-09-11

The protected product is bergamot essential oil, a DOP since March 15, 2001, cold-extracted from fruit grown on a coastal strip of about 62 miles (100 km) in the province of Reggio Calabria.

## A DOP on an oil, not on a fruit

EU regulation 509/2001 registered the name "Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria, olio essenziale" on March 15, 2001, in the category of essential oils. The guarantee covers what is extracted from the fruit, and that decides what you can buy with the name attached.

Three varieties of Citrus bergamia Risso qualify: Femminello, Castagnaro and Fantastico. Extraction is cold, and a centrifuge separates the oil from the water it comes out with.

The registration is confirmed by two independent sources, the EU act and the region's agricultural agency.

## Villa San Giovanni to Gioiosa Jonica

The zone is a band of about 62 miles (100 km) between Villa San Giovanni and Gioiosa Jonica, never above 200 meters. Everything protected grows inside that strip.

Groves are planted at 450 trees per hectare. A quintal of fruit, 100 kilograms, yields 350 to 750 grams of oil, and that ratio is the economics of the product in one line.

## The Aspromonte, a UNESCO Geopark

The same southern tip of Calabria holds the Aspromonte, a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2021 across 64,541 hectares, about 645 sq km. It coincides with the Aspromonte National Park.

Its 256,087 inhabitants live on Paleozoic metamorphic rock formed between 540 and 250 million years ago. About a thousand of them still speak Grecanico, the area's old minority language.

So the province holds two protected things at two very different scales. Neither is a beach, and both are worth a morning away from one.

## Reggio, and what to ask for in a shop

Reggio di Calabria, the provincial capital, is the most populous comune in Calabria with 167,925 residents on January 1, 2026 (ISTAT estimate). No source we hold gives a bus or train time along the bergamot strip, so plan that leg with a car or local advice.

In a shop, look for the words olio essenziale and DOP together. A bergamot cake, a liqueur or a jar of marmalade can be very good, but none of them is the protected product.

The world-share line is left out on purpose. The regional agency doesn't state that Calabria grows almost all the world's bergamot, and we found no official source that does.

See also [a citrus that grows on one coast](/stories/a-citrus-that-grows-on-one-coast), [food in Calabria](/food/in-calabria) and [Reggio Calabria](/towns/reggio-calabria).

## FAQ

### Is bergamot from Reggio Calabria a protected fruit?

No, the protection sits on the essential oil. The name Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria, olio essenziale, became a DOP with EU regulation 509/2001 of March 15, 2001, in the category of essential oils. The act registers the oil, not the fresh fruit.

### Which bergamot varieties go into the DOP oil?

Three, all Citrus bergamia Risso: Femminello, Castagnaro and Fantastico. The rules ask for cold extraction, with a centrifuge splitting the oil from the water it comes out with, and groves planted at 450 trees per hectare.

### How much bergamot does it take to make the oil?

A quintal of fruit, 100 kg, gives between 350 and 750 grams of essential oil under the DOP rules. At the low end that is 3.5 grams for every kilo of bergamots, so a small bottle stands for a lot of fruit.

### What is the Aspromonte UNESCO Global Geopark?

A UNESCO Global Geopark since 2021, covering 64,541 hectares at the southern tip of Calabria with 256,087 inhabitants. Its rocks are Paleozoic metamorphic formations from 540 to 250 million years ago, and about a thousand people there still speak Grecanico.

### Does nearly all the world's bergamot come from Calabria?

No official source we could read says so. ARSAC, Calabria's agricultural agency, gives no world share, so the line stays unconfirmed. What is documented is the protected zone: about 100 km of coast in the province of Reggio Calabria, up to 200 meters above sea level.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il 'Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria - Olio essenziale' e DOP dal regolamento (CE) n. 509/2001 del 15 marzo 2001; la zona di produzione e una fascia costiera di circa cento chilometri nella provincia di Reggio Calabria fra Villa San Giovanni e Gioiosa Jonica, l'olio si estrae a freddo dalle varieta Femminello, Castagnaro e Fantastico di Citrus bergamia Risso, con impianti a 450 piante per ettaro e una resa di 350-750 grammi per quintale di frutto. | [EUR-Lex - Unione europea](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32001R0509); [ARSAC - Azienda Regionale per lo Sviluppo dell'Agricoltura Calabrese](https://www.arsacweb.it/bergamotto-di-reggio-calabria-dop/) | high | 2029-12-31 |
| L'Aspromonte e UNESCO Global Geopark dal 2021: 64.541 ettari all'estremita meridionale della Calabria, con 256.087 abitanti, rocce metamorfiche paleozoiche formate fra 540 e 250 milioni di anni fa, e circa mille parlanti dell'antica lingua grecanica. | [UNESCO - International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme](https://www.unesco.org/en/iggp/aspromonte-unesco-global-geopark); [Commissione Nazionale Italiana per l'UNESCO](https://www.unesco.it/it/unesco-vicino-a-te/geoparchi/aspromonte/) | high | 2029-12-31 |
| Reggio di Calabria ha 167.925 residenti al 1 gennaio 2026 (stima ISTAT) ed e il comune piu popoloso della Calabria: piu del doppio del capoluogo di regione Catanzaro, che ne ha 82.708. | [ISTAT - Demografia in cifre](https://demo.istat.it/app/?i=POS&l=it); [ISTAT - Popolazione residente per eta e sesso al 1 gennaio 2026, dataset comuni](https://demo.istat.it/data/posas/POSAS_2026_it_Comuni.zip) | high | 2027-06-30 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/food.bergamotto-di-reggio.1600.jpg
Author: Unknown authorUnknown author. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Photo_Bergamot_harvest_1965_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_1.2948.jpg

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/cibo/bergamotto-di-reggio.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/gastronomia/bergamotto-di-reggio.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/gastronomie/bergamotto-di-reggio.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/kulinarik/bergamotto-di-reggio.md