For thousands of years, olive trees have been cultivated near Sparta in Lakonia, Peloponnese, between the Taygetus and Parnonas mountain ranges, where the olive tree is considered sacred, and the climate and natural environment are ideal for olive growing. There, Sakellaropoulos Organic Farming cultivates organic Kalamata and Koroneiki olives.

Sakellaropoulos Organic Farming produces a wide range of exceptional olive products, always aiming for the highest quality. “From generation to generation, we learn, experiment, and create,” with “love and absolute respect for nature,” explains George Sakellaropoulos. They seek cooperation and “harmony with nature and tradition.” Nothing is left to chance: the cooperation and harmony are based on scientific knowledge of such techniques as crop rotation and co-cultivation, and their work undergoes scientific monitoring, inspection, and self-inspection.

George’s son Nick Sakellaropoulos explains that he is the third generation involved in his family’s business. Equipped with a master’s in chemical engineering, he focuses on “improvement and development of new products through scientific methods, in cooperation with researchers and universities worldwide, to produce healthful products with great flavor.” He and his family “are producers, not traders; we do not buy olive oil or olives from other producers,” but “only use our own olives and olive oil, all organically produced. We also self-package our products according to international standards” in a vertically integrated company, using modern equipment.

Following all European regulations regarding organic farming, Sakellaropoulos Organic Farming is certified by BIO – HELLAS. Moreover, they apply quality control system HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) and have ISO 22000:2005 certification regarding Food Safety Management Systems. Their facilities are approved by the Greek Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food, and their company is approved and registered by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Sakellaropoulos Organic Farming produces nine different olive oil products, eleven olive products (including olives with seven types of herbs), and natural cosmetics based on organic olive oil and St. John’s wort oil. Their extensive product line includes everything from early harvest extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) to flavored premium oils, from unripe and ripe table olives to unsalted olives with aromatic herbs, olives without vinegar, and olives with orange, apple, or even ouzo.

Nick Sakellaropoulos believes “what really makes us different from any producer in the world is our olives, which have been produced in the traditional way, starting with my grandfather many years ago.” They use only natural fermentation processes, and no pasteurization, so the polyphenols, probiotics, and other antioxidants remain in the fruit. Those techniques, combined with constant monitoring using modern scientific equipment, produce natural, wholesome olives.

The Sakellaropoulos family’s very low acidity, unfiltered, multi award winning monovarietal Koroneiki extra virgin olive oils are cold extracted promptly after harvest. Their especially healthy early harvest EVOOs, Fyllikon First Harvest and Agourelaio, are made from unripe olives in October, with oil extracted at unusually low temperatures (between 16 and 20° C). Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms was the first in Greece to package the first harvest organic unripe olive oil that is called agourelaio or protelaio in Greek.

Their flavored olive oils feature unusual, award winning combinations. For example, their Gemstone Blend, naturally infused with ginger, lime and basil, was ranked 1st place worldwide in the flavored olive oil category by the international ranking system EVOOWR for 2019, while their blend of oils from three olive varieties with lemongrass and tarragon in Majestic was ranked 1st place in the same category for 2018, and their Syllektikon (with oranges, lemon and wild thyme) was ranked 2nd place for 2017. The truly unusual Oleoastron blends Koroneiki olive oil with walnuts, purslane, fennel seeds, and herbs for the extra healthy oil designated the Best Flavored EVOO at the Terraolivo competition in 2015. 

In fact, in only six years, Sakellaropoulos Organic Farming’s olive oils and olives have won an astonishing 135 awards (and counting) at prestigious international competitions such as the New York International Olive Oil Competition (IOOC), the Los Angeles IOOC, Premio BIOL Italy, Terraolivo, the International Taste and Quality Institute (ITQI), EVO IOOC (formerly Domina IOOC), Olive Japan, the Japan Olive Oil Prize (JOOP), and Great Taste Awards. In 2015, they were ranked in the Top 100 EVOO Societies of the World. 

In addition to being lauded for their wonderful flavor, Sakellaropoulos products have also earned Aristoleo High Phenolic Olive Oil Awards and Olympia Health and Nutrition Awards for their high phenolic olive oil and olives. Furthermore, both products have been selected for use in scientific studies on the health benefits of the healthiest olives and olive oil.

As Marilyn Harding wrote in Huffington Post, Dr. Prokopios Magiatis and his team at the University of Athens discovered that the Sakellaropoulos family’s Kalamata table olives contained five times more of the healthy phenolic compounds hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol than usual—more than any other olives tested in that lab. Dr. Martha Spyridoula-Katsarou subsequently reported the results of a study using these olives: eating just five of them per day can improve the cholesterol profile enough that it “may contribute to reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease.” 

Moreover, due to its healthy high phenolic content, the Sakellaropoulos family’s extra virgin olive oil participates in the Harvard University School of Public Health’s Feeding America’s Bravest study of the effect of the Mediterranean diet on firefighters in the USA. With American firefighters far more likely to die from heart attacks than burns or smoke inhalation, Harvard scientist Stefanos Kales is trying to help prevent cardiovascular problems and improve general health by introducing 1000 volunteer firefighters in mid America to the traditional Mediterranean diet with extra virgin olive oil. This diet has been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, other cancers, diabetes, cognitive decline, dementia, and depression.  

The Sakellaropoulos family hopes their donations of olives and olive oil to scientific studies can contribute to the improvement of study participants’ health, while helping to extend scientists’ understanding of the ways olives and olive oil can make humankind healthier worldwide. Their long list of awards for quality and flavor suggests that their products can also help make humankind happier.