Can the pandemic It crushed the global economy and brought business giants to their knees, but the immortal Greek olive tree stood tall. Thanks to the passion and sacrifices of the Greek olive oil producers, stood firm during the crisis and brought about the Greece among the world's leading olive oil-producing countries.
A classic example is the Sakellaropoulos Organic Olive Groves in Laconia, which, during the worst year for the global economy, managed to earn a series of international accolades. The highlight was the 5η ranking in the global list of olive oil companies announced by the International Association of Wine and Spirits Writers and Journalists and includes the scores from all international competitions held in 2020.
«Consistently high quality»
«A total of 13,342 olive oil samples from 1,605 olive oil producers in 42 olive-producing countries from around the world and in 27 international olive oil competitions. In the «Olive Oils of the Year 2020»(Evoo of the Year 2020), fewer than 3% of the 13,342 olive oil samples from around the world that are participating have made the cut.
This is the first time a Greek producer of exclusively organic olive oils has ranked so highly in the global rankings, with 10 of its olive oils featured in the «Olive Oils of the Year 2020.» This means that our production has consistently been at a high level and has always been among the medal winners, no matter where We competed, from Tokyo to Los Angeles», he told ethnos.gr, by Giorgos Sakellaropoulos.
«We stood out among the giants»
In fact, if we were to use sports terminology, we would say that the organic olive oils from Giorgos Sakellaropoulos’s olive grove are «high-quality »racing" oils, and in fact, they comply with all the strict standards that were updated and tightened in part due to the pandemic COVID-19:
«We followed all the protocols, We devoted a lot of time and invested a great deal to produce organic olive oils that will stand out among the giants of global production—primarily from Spain and Italy, but also from other countries such as Turkey and Tunisia, which has made great strides in recent years. »We are very pleased with the result, and our satisfaction is even greater than the congratulations we receive daily from all over the world in recognition of our efforts.”.
«30 years of experience»
«It's definitely a very difficult journey, all of this..." 30 Years of Organic Olive Farming which, when we started, was unknown in Greece. It was a conscious choice on our part from the very beginning, knowing the benefits it offers to people, health, and the environment. The choices, the mistakes, the uncertainty, the unknown, human behavior, the psychological and economic costs, the uncertainty, and the “uncharted waters” as we tend to say today—these are the factors we encountered along the way.
All of this experience has helped us achieve the high quality that our olive products have today, a quality that is now recognized with international awards. The Sakellaropoulos organic olive groves hold a unique record 233 international awards for taste and quality».
One liter absorbs 10.6 kilograms of carbon dioxide
As Giorgos Sakellaropoulos points out, olive oil is one of the most valuable natural products that only a very small portion of the world’s population has the opportunity and good fortune to enjoy: «Very few people know that Olive oil production is sufficient for only a small portion of the world's population, which is certainly less than 5%.
This means that there is significant room for increasing production, but at the same time there is also very strong competition from other types of oils, which, however, do not have the same nutritional value as extra virgin olive oil. This is why we Greeks still have a major advantage, which is none other than our consumption of extra virgin olive oil.
To help you understand the multifaceted value of olive oil, let me give you the following example. Recent studies show that The production of one liter of olive oil absorbs approximately 10 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, », thereby directly benefiting the environment and human health.".
Quality comes first, then quantity
In any case, Giorgos Sakellaropoulos is one of those… «heretics” who believe that, as Greece, we should focus more on quality and then on quantity: “There’s a lot of debate surrounding this issue. For me, quality plays a more important role than quantity, and in this sector, Greece has many advantages, so we need to invest more. However, I don’t want to say too much because I’ve learned to work within the boundaries of my business.”.
My goal, together with my son Nikos, is to maintain consistently high quality over time—a standard recognized worldwide. Creating and maintaining high standards of quality is a passport to success for our efforts and for Greek olive oil—especially organic olive oil—which is at the heart of the Sakellaropoulos olive groves.
