Cook with olive oil, not just finish with it.
For more than a century, Casa Gallo has carried Portuguese olive oil tradition into Brazilian kitchens — but it took a Brazilian woman, Cristiane Souza, to reimagine what that tradition could become. Arriving in the wake of a harvest crisis that shook consumer confidence and sent prices to painful heights, Souza now leads with a vision that is less about selling a product and more about reshaping a habit: moving olive oil from the finishing drizzle to the daily flame. Her ambition to double the company's Brazilian operations is, at its core, a wager that culture can be gently redirected — and that belonging, not luxury, is the more durable market.
- A historic olive harvest failure in 2024 drove prices to R$80 a bottle, fracturing Casa Gallo's customer base and forcing the company into recovery mode before Souza had fully settled into her role.
- The pressure is compounded by the stakes: Brazil already generates 60% of the company's global revenue, making every local misstep a global consequence.
- Souza's response is not defensive — she is pursuing 100% growth by targeting the behavioral gap between consumers who finish dishes with olive oil and those who cook with it daily, a shift that multiplies consumption tenfold.
- New bottle designs with squeeze dispensers, a premium Rossio de Abrantes line priced 150–180% above average, and a diversified portfolio across olives, vinegars, and peppers are all instruments of the same repositioning strategy.
- By March 2026, with prices stabilizing around R$30–35, Casa Gallo posted 25% growth — a signal that the recovery is real, and that the broader ambition may be within reach.
Cristiane Souza became the first woman and the first Brazilian to lead Casa Gallo, a Portuguese olive oil company with more than a century of history in Brazil. She arrived at 51, carrying experience from Unilever and a native understanding of how Brazilians cook — qualities her Portuguese predecessors could not claim. The timing was unforgiving: a 2024 olive harvest crisis had sent prices spiraling to R$80 a bottle, fracturing the customer base along economic lines. The wealthy stayed; others left. Souza inherited a business in recovery, and responded with ambition.
Her central bet is behavioral. Company research shows that consumers who cook with olive oil daily use ten times more of it than those who only drizzle it over finished plates. That gap is where Souza sees the path to doubling the operation. New bottle formats — with squeeze dispensers and dosing spouts — were designed to make olive oil feel like a kitchen staple rather than a luxury condiment. A new premium line, Rossio de Abrantes, priced 150 to 180 percent above the shelf average, targets home cooks who aspire to cook like chefs. Meanwhile, the company's presence in olives, vinegars, and peppers keeps the brand visible across multiple supermarket shelves and cushions against volatility in any single category.
The market structure works in Casa Gallo's favor. More than 300 brands compete in Brazil, yet three companies control 70 percent of sales — leaving significant unclaimed territory for a market leader willing to invest. By March 2026, as prices normalized to the R$30–35 range, Casa Gallo reported 25 percent growth. Souza is careful not to frame her leadership as a rupture with the company's Portuguese heritage; she describes it instead as a translation — taking what tradition offers and making it legible to a country that is learning to treat olive oil not as something foreign and precious, but as something that simply belongs in the everyday kitchen.
Cristiane Souza sits at the helm of a company that has been selling olive oil in Brazil for more than a century, and she is the first woman and the first Brazilian to do so. At 51, she arrived at Casa Gallo—which rebranded itself simply as Casa Gallo in recent years—carrying experience from Unilever and an intimate knowledge of how Brazilians actually cook. The company she now leads is Portuguese in origin, centenarian in practice, and until her appointment, led exclusively by men from Portugal.
The timing of her arrival was not gentle. In 2024, an olive harvest crisis sent prices spiraling. A bottle of Casa Gallo's oil climbed to 80 reais—a shock that fractured the customer base. The wealthy held firm. Those who could afford one bottle a year found themselves shopping elsewhere. The market contracted, not catastrophically, but noticeably. Souza inherited a business in recovery mode, tasked with rebuilding what the crisis had loosened.
Her strategy is audacious: double the operation. Brazil already accounts for 60 percent of the company's global revenue, a concentration that makes the country both Casa Gallo's greatest asset and its greatest vulnerability. To achieve 100 percent growth, Souza is not simply selling more of the same product. She is trying to change how Brazilians think about olive oil itself. The company's research suggests that consumers who cook with olive oil daily—not just drizzle it over finished plates—use ten times more of it. That gap between finishing oil and cooking oil is where the growth lives.
The rebranding that Souza inherited and completed reflects this shift in thinking. New bottles arrived with squeeze dispensers and dosing spouts, designed to make olive oil feel less like a luxury condiment and more like a kitchen staple. The company also introduced Rossio de Abrantes, a premium line priced 150 to 180 percent above the average olive oil on the shelf. It is a bet that Brazilian home cooks increasingly want to feel like chefs, and that they will pay for the sensation. Alongside these moves, Casa Gallo maintained its presence in olives, vinegars, and peppers—categories that serve both as strategic growth vectors and as anchors that keep the brand visible across multiple shelves in the supermarket.
The market itself is fragmented in a way that favors consolidation. More than 300 olive oil brands compete in Brazil, yet three companies control 70 percent of sales. Most of the remaining brands are small, created for specific retail networks, unable to compete at scale. Casa Gallo's position as market leader gives it room to grow without necessarily taking share from competitors—there is simply more of the market to claim.
The recovery has begun. By March 2026, just as prices stabilized back to the 30-to-35-reais range, Casa Gallo reported 25 percent growth. The portfolio's diversity—offering both 500-milliliter and 250-milliliter bottles—allowed the company to retain customers during the crisis even as consumption volumes shrank. Those who could not afford the larger size could still buy the smaller one. Now, as prices normalize, Souza's team is pushing a different message: cook with olive oil, not just finish with it. Make it part of your daily practice, not your occasional luxury.
Souza's background as a Brazilian and her experience in consumer goods give her an advantage that her Portuguese predecessors did not possess. She understands local eating habits in a way that cannot be imported. Yet she is careful not to position herself as a break from the past. Portugal, she notes, continues to bring tradition and brand relevance. The company is not rejecting its heritage; it is translating it for a market that is learning to see olive oil not as something foreign and precious, but as something that belongs in the everyday kitchen.
Notable Quotes
Consumers who cook with olive oil daily use ten times more of it than those who only finish dishes with it.— Cristiane Souza, Casa Gallo president
As a Brazilian, I understand our consumption habits in a way that brings doors open in some moments, but Portugal continues to bring the tradition and relevance of the brand.— Cristiane Souza
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When you say you want to make olive oil a daily cooking ingredient rather than just a finishing touch, what does that actually require from the company?
It requires us to change the conversation entirely. We have to show people that olive oil can handle heat, that it belongs in the pan, not just on the plate. That's a cultural shift, not just a marketing one.
The 2024 crisis pushed prices to 80 reais. How did that not destroy the brand?
The wealthy stayed loyal. But we lost the price-sensitive customer—the person buying one bottle a year. What saved us was having options. The 250-milliliter bottle became a lifeline for people who still wanted the brand but couldn't afford the volume.
So the crisis actually taught you something about your customer base?
It did. It showed us that the market is resilient, but also that it's stratified. We needed products at different price points, and we needed to speak to different occasions. That's why Rossio de Abrantes exists—for the person who wants to feel like a chef.
You're the first Brazilian woman leading this company. Does that change how the organization sees itself?
It opens doors in some moments. I understand Brazilian consumption habits in a way that someone from Portugal might not. But I'm not here to erase the Portuguese tradition. That's the company's foundation. I'm here to translate it.
Three brands control 70 percent of the market, yet there are 300 brands total. Where is the real competition?
The real competition is among those three of us. The rest are niche players, mostly tied to specific retailers. Our growth doesn't necessarily come from taking their share—it comes from expanding the category itself, making more Brazilians cook with olive oil.
What happens if you don't hit the doubling target?
We still grow. The market is moving in our direction. But doubling would mean we've fundamentally changed how people cook. That's the ambition.