In 2025, Catania Oils is celebrating 125 years of family, resilience, and remarkable growth. To honor this legacy, we’re launching a blog series that explores the lives and leadership of the people who shaped our company from 1900 to today. Each post will spotlight a different chapter in our story and feature our 125th anniversary video: a short documentary blending interviews with the Basile family, footage from our current plant, and over a century of family and company photos brought to life with AI animation. It’s a celebration of where we’ve been, and where we’re headed.
In family businesses, the transition of power is a delicate dance. It requires balancing respect for the past against bold visions for the future. For Catania Oils, that pivotal shift came in the form of Tony Basile. His tenure as President didn't just keep the lights on; it transformed a regional operation into a national powerhouse, proving that with the right mix of grit, strategy, and family loyalty, the third generation can do far more than just survive – they can thrive.
Tony was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1953, the second of five children to Joe and Ann Basile. Growing up in a tight-knit Italian-American family, the business wasn't just a place of work; it was the backdrop of his childhood. His aunts, uncles, and cousins lived nearby, weaving a fabric of support that would define his leadership style decades later.
In 1972, Tony enrolled in Bentley College, eager to start his freshman year. But only three days into his college career, a key employee at the family business quit. Tony watched his father, Joe – then in his mid-50s – put his
Seeing his father struggle under that weight sparked a moment of clarity for Tony. He chose to leave school to work full-time at Catania. The decision wasn't about career ambition; it was about family duty.
He started right where the work was hardest: the Bulk Department in Somerville. This was the company's nerve center, and it was here that Tony learned the business from the ground up. He mastered oil processing, blending, and logistics – knowledge that no classroom could have provided.
By 1979, Tony had transitioned into sales, giving him a new view of the company's operations. At the time, Catania was split between oil packing and grocery distribution as a major importer of tomato products. While
He proposed a radical idea: eliminate the grocery distribution entirely to focus exclusively on oil packing. It was a risky move. Cutting a $3 million revenue stream is a terrifying prospect for any business. But Tony was convinced that the profit margins in oil made it the smarter play.
He made a bold promise: to replace the lost grocery revenue with oil sales within one year. Working tirelessly alongside the sales team, Tony delivered on that promise in just six months. This wasn't just a win for the balance sheet; it was the strategic shift that set the trajectory for the company's future.
Tragedy struck the Basile family in 1988 with the passing of Tony’s older brother, Joe, who was serving as president. In the wake of this loss, Tony stepped into the primary leadership role. It was a somber transition, but Tony channeled his grief into growth.
From 1988 to 2016, Tony oversaw an era of monumental expansion. He recognized early on that the old Somerville plant was holding them back. It was cramped, outdated, and simply unable to support further growth. He led the charge to purchase land and build a modern, larger facility in Ayer, Massachusetts.
He was right. Under Tony's guidance, sales exploded. The Ayer facility had to be expanded continuously, including a massive 50,000-square-foot addition in 2003. Perhaps his most visionary move came in 1997, with the co-founding of AMD Oil Sales with Don Griego and Michael Gagliardo. Tony realized that to control Catania’s destiny, they needed to control their supply. AMD operates as a cooperative bulk importer, ensuring a reliable, consistent supply of olive oil for Catania. It was a strategy his father had considered decades earlier, finally brought to life by his son. Today, AMD stands as one of the largest bulk olive oil importers in the United States.
Despite the massive financial success, Tony never lost sight of what mattered most: family and heritage. He was instrumental in preparing the fourth generation for leadership. His children, nieces, and nephews were not handed corner offices; they were integrated into the business the same way Tony was. They worked through multiple departments, gaining a practical understanding of the work and, crucially, a deep respect for the employees who make it all possible.
Tony found unique ways to weave family history into the daily operations. He started a tradition of naming oil tanks after family members, reinforcing that the company’s infrastructure was literally built on the names of those who came before. Later, he expanded this honor to long-standing partners and employees, treating them as extended family. And in a touching nod to his roots, Tony revived the family’s Sicilian tradition of blessing each new baby in the family with olive oil – a symbol of health, prosperity, and connection to their heritage.
Tony Basile’s story is more than a corporate biography. It’s a testament to the power of showing up. From that first day he traded college for the bulk department, to the strategic risks he took in the boardroom, Tony went all in. He honored his father's hard work not by preserving the status quo, but by reimagining what was possible.
Tony passed the business to the fourth generation in 2016, after nearly 30 years at the helm. Join us next time as we see how they not only continued his legacy, but rose to the challenge of taking Catania even further.