We are a newly established family business in the production of extra virgin olive oil nevertheless our experience is inversely proportional as our family has a great tradition of producing quality agricultural products. The systematic production of olive oil begins three generations back in the past! Nowadays, the extra virgin olive oil Kakovatos Green Olive Oil is produced from our own olive groves in Kakavatos, our small village in Western Peloponnese, Greece. Our olive trees belong exclusively to the top KORONEIKI variety, and their age is on average 50 years, with some of them reaching up to a hundred years.
Pappous Mitsos (grandfather Mitsos, subcortical for Dimitris) was born early 1900s at Kakovatos, the elder of 5 siblings; at his 20s, after his father death he took over as the breadwinner of the family, looking after the farms and trading their products. Pappous Mitsos was very active and innovative farmer for his times, explored new cultivation methods, plant new kind of seeds, brought new trees and famously for our family won a gold medal for the quality of his products at a competition held at the high profile international exhibition at Thessaloniki in the late 30s. The main products to trade back then were raising and wheat but the big family farm had pretty much a little bit of everything, including olive trees, which helped the extended family survive during the Nazi occupation, as our grandmother use to tell us many years later… after the hard War times were over, Pappous Mitsos expanded his land, planted more olive
trees and continue to work at the farms till his death in New Year’s Eve 1970.
Time flies and here comes our generation. Like our parents, far away so close to our village. Very lucky and proud to have inherited the land and olive trees planted from the previous
generations. The first chemical analyses proved what we already knew by heart; not only did we have a very tasty olive oil with a beautiful green color and the slightly bitter taste characteristic of the excellent Koroneiki variety, but also a very high quality product with low acidity, very rich in nutrients factors which was not treated right, so we had to do something about it.
That’s how our brand was established.
The next generation, that is our fathers and mothers, born in the 1940s and grew up in these farms, got accustomed to the daily hard works, digging, ploughing, harvesting and as most of
the people of their generation did, as soon they finished school, run away from the countryside seeking a better life in the big cities, studying and staying away from the adversities of the rural life; not so far away as it turned out. Their love for our village, their childhood experiences and perhaps some kind of pride for their origin and heritage kept them close. So they preserved the farms in pretty good condition; raising and wheat were replaced by olive trees and our parents were amateurishly producing a high quality olive oil for our homes, friends and loved ones and wholesaling the rest of their production to the local cooperative.
Our cultivation is based on good agricultural practices and our overall approach remains to a great extent traditional. We collect the olives by hand, early in October and in November while they are still unripe and green; the fruits are transferred to the oil mill in the same day while during the production the temperature remains low, resulting in a high quality extra virgin olive oil being produced 100% pure. The intense green color, a slightly bitter and spicy flavor due to early harvest, rich in phenolic compounds and particularly low acid content (0.25% oleic acid) are the main characteristics which our olive oil will maintain for the whole year owing also to the appropriate packaging bearing our characteristic logo, which is a logotype of Linear B, the first writing of the Greek language and of course symbolized olive oil!
Kakovatos is a small village located on the coast of Ionian Sea in Western Peloponnese, Greece.
Why not join us during the harvest period and watch the whole production process!
You will stay in one of our fully equipped stone-built bungalows located in an olive grove and enjoy the local hospitality.
You can also pre-book your extra virgin olive oil for the next period, place an immediate order for your home, restaurant or delicatessen or just ask a question by sending us a short email at info@greenoliveoil.gr or call at +30 6977 59 88 88.
We are looking forward to hearing from you
Dimitris