Peloponnese Green Gold

Greece, even though quite a small country, holds 3rd place among the olive oil producing countries behind Spain and Italy; however, it is the largest exporter of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Greek olive oil is well known worldwide for its superior quality and its excellent organoleptic properties, that is the oil’s flavour, bouquet and colour.

Since antiquity, olive oil has played an important part in the Greeks diet, it was used in almost every single item that was on the table and it is not surprising that per capita consumption is the highest in the world today – 22 liters/person/year compare to 15 and 13 liters/person/year, for the Spanish and Italians respectively.

65% of olive oil production in Greece comes from the Peloponnese. Cultivation started in ancient time near the town of Eliki and spread in all the north coast of the region.
Kastro, a small coastal town by the Ionian Sea, produces one of the top quality olive oils in Greece. The main olive variety there is called Koroneiki. The particularity of Kastro’s olive oil is that olives are picked when they are still green and they produce oil that is slightly bitter and grassy, and high in polyphenols (anti-oxidants). It also has a wonderful golden green colour.

Around the month of November mainly, local workers, mainly from Albania, pick up the olives in exchange of a percentage of the olive oil produced. Once the olives are stored in bags, they have to be processed in the nearby mill quite quickly.
It is quite common for Greek people to cook all year long with their own olive oil, produced by their family grove.