Organic Certification by BioHellas
Stamatopoulos & Sons is proud to offer an organic olive oil which is certified by BioHellas in Greece. The certified organic olive oil is grown on Bobby Kalogeropoulos’ farm which is located in Christianoupoli, Messinia, Greece. The process of certifying the olive oil as organic includes having a 20-year history of the property which specifies that no chemicals, pesticides, etc. are used on the land. Moreover, best practices in the areas of harvesting, production, irrigation, and the general growing process are observed. These olives were never mixed with other olives; they are mono-varietal koroneiki to maintain the integrity of the organic olive oil.
Greece’s rural development plan is an important source of funding for promotion for organic olive oil. They emphasize growing organically to farmers and stress importance of buying organic olive oil to consumers. Unfortunately, there is not a large budget put toward these efforts. Unlike Spain and Italy, which contribute at least 50 percent of the funding for their plans, Greece is only expected to contribute 15 percent (and for some Greek proposals, as little as 5 percent, due to an exemption that was granted in the wake of Greece’s financial crisis). The quality improvement measures provide funding for organic production, and promotion measures fund television, radio, Internet, and print campaigns, as well as product exhibitions, for marketing organic Greek olive oil within the EU.
- oliver oil
