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The final day of the 3rd Cretan Lifestyle Conference began with an impromptu address by Mr. George J. Tsunis, U.S. Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic (Greece), who suggested that the traditional version of the Mediterranean diet that Greek grandmothers have prepared for generations using real, unprocessed food from the earth can help improve our health.

“Olive oil is one of the most important reasons why Crete is known in the rest of the world. Based on this, we can understand that olive oil on our island was and will be the king of foods!” exclaims oil producer Eftychis Androulakis in a perfect example of Cretan passion for a product that is central to the island’s tourism, cuisine, economy, and history. 

The olive tree and olive oil have symbolized peace and reconciliation for millennia, as well as playing key roles in the cuisine of the people of the Mediterranean region. Two producers of extra virgin olive oil from both sides of the Aegean Sea are now honoring these symbols with a collector’s case featuring extra virgin olive oils from Greece and Türkiye.

At the 2024 Food Expo in Athens, hundreds of Greek olive oil company representatives joined other food and drink professionals to exhibit products and connect with buyers. They also talked with Greek Liquid Gold about the Expo’s usefulness, their companies’ innovations, and the challenging crop year, with high prices and growing evidence of global warming.

Concerned that the World Health Organization’s latest guidelines defining “healthy diets” calls for a limitation of total fat intake to a level below that in the traditional Mediterranean diet, prominent scientists have signed a statement requesting that the recommended level be increased, and a distinction be made between fats and oils, and among oils.

At the 2nd Cretan Lifestyle Conference in Rethymno in November, Harvard University professor of medicine Stefanos Kales suggested that the first Hellenic Olive Network be created. Several experts agreed to invite Greek scientists working on olive trees and their products, as well as interested companies and farmers’ associations, to join such a network.

The North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA), whose members represent over half the olive oil sold in the USA, plans to commission the nation’s most comprehensive, rigorous olive oil testing study. In the spirit of collaboration, the NAOOA has invited other industry stakeholders to provide both strategic and financial support for this important project.

Is olive oil expensive now? It depends on how you look at it. If you compare prices to a year or two ago, yes. If you consider the price per serving, the cost compared to other purchases, and extra virgin olive oil’s contributions to your food’s flavor and health benefits, no: we are not paying as much as this cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet is worth.

Two flourishing Cretan olive oil companies founded by Greek innovators have begun a unique new collaboration. Now working together in the olive mill at Biolea’s Astrikas Estate in Crete, Biolea and Pamako have presented Crete’s first restaurant in an olive mill and Greece’s first modern production line to operate alongside a stone mill and hydraulic press.

After a megafire burned across the southern part of the regional unit of Evros in northeastern Greece for 17 days, olive farmers and experts are assessing losses and considering steps toward regeneration. Fires around the Dadia national park and the city of Alexandroupoli merged in the largest wildfire ever recorded in Europe, with devastating results. 

With its base in the USA and its olive groves in Laconia, Greece, the Laconiko olive oil company has been ranked the most awarded producer of flavored olive oils in the world—not once, but twice—and among the top three another year. Laconiko’s healthy flavored olive oils make a wide range of tastes readily available for convenient use in American kitchens.  

With the tourist season underway in Greece, restaurants are welcoming visitors to enjoy the mouth-watering Greek dishes that delight diners from across the globe. Since Greek cuisine and the Mediterranean diet would hardly exist without olive oil, many believe this liquid gold should have a place of honor on restaurant tables, as Greek law now allows.

Organized by the non-profit Scientific Society of Olive Encyclopaedists, also known as 4E, a two-day international conference titled “Modern Methods of Olive Fruit Fly Control” was held at the Agricultural University of Athens in Greece. The conference was well attended, both in person and via live-streaming. OliveNews.gr shared the following press release.

During the Food Expo at the Metropolitan Expo Center in Athens on March 18-20, 2023, Greek stakeholders in the olive, olive oil, dairy, and meat sectors learned about the ENI CBC MED LIVINGAGRO project, Cross-Border Living Laboratories for Agroforestry. Several exhibitors shared their views on the benefits of innovation and agroforestry in the olive sector.

An hour’s drive southeast of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, the regional unit of Halkidiki (Chalkidiki) draws visitors to its beaches, forested mountains, religious and archaeological sites, and olive groves. Those groves produce the area’s famous big green table olives. For a decade they have also yielded high quality extra virgin olive oil.

From March 18 to 20, more than 31,000 food industry professionals from 83 countries joined 1,300 exhibitors at the Food Expo in the Metropolitan Expo Center near the Athens airport. At several of the many stands featuring Greek olive oil and table olives, company representatives presented their products and innovations and shared their views of the sector.

Looking to the future, Greek experts anticipate challenges for the Greek olive oil sector, but also see potential for positive developments. Considering the situation of the Greek olive oil industry in and beyond 2022, including ongoing climate change and production and export models and plans, they offer a variety of predictions and recommendations.

Looking back at 2022, Greek experts shared their views on the Greek olive oil sector. They mentioned the large quantity of olive oil produced recently in Greece (in contrast to Spain and Italy), as well as its high quality and fairer price for producers. However, they were concerned about a shortage of laborers and the costliness of energy and fertilizer.

A debate continues in Europe about front-of-pack labeling systems for packaged food, with the European Commission (EC) planning to propose one scheme for mandatory use throughout the European Union. The EC is considering at least four labeling schemes, with the best-known, Nutri-Score, receiving significant criticism from the olive oil sector, among others.

The Hellenic Center for Excellence in Health & Wellness is being established as a non-profit in the USA to sponsor research and educational programs in Crete, Greece in partnership with the Grecotel hotel chain. The goal is to increase awareness of the health benefits of the traditional Cretan diet and lifestyle, starting with an autumn conference in Crete.

A Garden of Peace with 21 varieties of olive trees was inaugurated on July 19 at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh) in Crete, Greece. The trees come from the 21 olive-growing countries that represent 95% of the world’s olive production. Viewed as a symbol of peace for millennia, olive trees are the sole focus of this new garden.