Good Olive Oil Should Not Be Anonymous
Currently, the Olive Oil that reaches the consumer goes through a lot of different hands.
And regardless of all of the EU regulations, the Olive Oil trade is characterized by a lack of trust. Across Europe, olive oil fraud has repeatedly involved cheaper oils, sunflower oil, colorants, refined oils, false labels, and products sold as Extra Virgin Olive Oil when they were not. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Even official EU-level reporting has found that olive oil controls are not applied evenly everywhere, and that traceability does not always make it possible to confirm where an oil truly comes from.[7]
But the consumer is not the only one is not being fairly as Greek olive farmers are under real pressure. Production costs have risen sharply, with labor, water, electricity, agricultural inputs, and drought-related losses making cultivation more difficult, while producer prices can fall quickly.[8][9]
At the same time, the price customers pay in shops is shaped by the long route through brokers, bottlers, distributors, importers, and retailers.[10] The result is the customer paying a large amount while the producer makes only but a fraction.
I Believe There is A Better Way
My vision is to offer a direct line to Greek farmers so customers can know where their olive oil comes from and who they are supporting. This will effectively turn the business into nothing more than a logistics and quality assurance service, since I will only be ensuring quality, transparency, and fair prices for the farmers and the customers alike.
Currently, I am beginning with one family, one farmer, my own grandpa and the trees he inherited from his own father. The result is authentic Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil, produced with care, tested by independent IOC-certified laboratories, and offered with transparency from grove to bottle.
As the business grows I will be collaborating with other farmers from the same region who share the same values: quality, honesty, fair compensation, and respect for the land.
The result? A business were the customers will get to choose exactly the farmer they want to support, while receiving pure, unadulterated Extra Virgin Olive Oil that will transform their food.
References
[1] 150,000 litres of fake extra virgin olive oil seized from “well-oiled” gang, Europol.
[2] Eurojust crackdown on counterfeit olive oil trade, Eurojust.
[3] Report on EU Agri-Food Fraud Suspicions, European Commission, October 2025.
[4] Olive oil adulteration operation uncovered in Greece, FoodNavigator.
[5] Police break ring that sold sunflower oil as top-of-the-range olive oil, eKathimerini.
[6] Is your olive oil legal? Theft and fraud rampant across the Mediterranean, Euronews.
[7] Control systems for olive oil in the EU: A comprehensive framework, but unevenly applied, European Court of Auditors, Special Report 01/2026.
[8] Olive oil cost to fall – in 2025, eKathimerini.
[9] Olive oil: Producer price vs. consumer price, Proto Thema English.
[10] How Olive Oil Is Priced: From Grove to Supermarket, OliveTerm.