Voria.gr- The 'Cyclops' (Kyklopas in Greek) of Makri, Evros in the top 20 olive oils worldwide.
The Thracian family business Kyklopas managed to put Makri on the international map of olive production with a lot of hard work, passion and zeal.
Their extra virgin olive oil entered the list of the 20 most awarded oils in the world in 2019 and is the only Greek oil present there. In total, in the last 12 years Kyklopas has won 108 awards for the quality and taste of their olive oil, which makes it the most award-winning olive oil in the country.
In fact, its exports amount to 50% of its turnover, as it exports to a number of countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and even to Japan and Taiwan, which shows particular enthusiasm for their olive oil. Not long ago, their products were sought from New Caledonia, in the Pacific Ocean, and they are preparing to export there as well. Their products can be found in both the USA and Canada, and they are interested in further expansion in both these major markets, while continuing to intensify export operations in Europe.
In addition to their extra virgin olive oil and their award-winning early harvest olive oil, Kyklopas has also diversified their product range with their natural aromatic olive oils, which are produced by crushing together olives and real fruits and herbs, among which are basil, mint and ginger, garlic, lemon and orange. Also included in their product range are soaps from olive oil, beeswax balm and body oil. In fact, in many of its products, such as olive oil dressing and soaps, it also uses locally produced products, for example garlic from the village of Vyssa in the dressings and silk from Soufli in the soaps. In total, they currently have over 40 products, many of which are used by and can be found in delis and hotels, where Kyklopas olive oil is often reserved for gourmet meals.
Kyklopas olive oil won over the world quite quickly, creating loyal and permanent customers. In fact, as one of the couple's two daughters, Valia Kelidou, told Voria.gr, "Kyklopas produces the kind of product that whoever tries it, comes back for more.” The quality that Argyris Kelidis and Niki Kelidou had placed as the first priority was rewarded for the first time in 2008 in a domestic competition with a platinum distinction, and this was only the beginning. In 2010 the company started the first exports to Germany, with most of Europe following very quickly. Today, Kyklopas has 12,000 olive trees and produces about 50 tons of olive oil per year.
Enthusiasm from the next generation
"I remember as a child the smell in the mill. Given that I lived through all this effort and hard work of my family from an early age, I could not contemplate doing anything else," says Valia Kelidou, who even studied Agriculture to better serve this purpose. For her, the competitive advantage of the company is that it starts from the field and reaches the shelf, and so has complete control from cultivation and production to bottling and even waste disposal. "We cultivate with minimal water use, fertilizer and pesticides, while for harvesting we use modern vibratory self-propelled machinery to avoid injury to the workers’ wrist, and the olives are always kept in ventilated crates. The pressing is done on the same day as harvesting under the best possible conditions: cold pressing below 25 degrees, and filtering with paper filters immediately afterwards to maintain the high quality of the olive oil", she explains.
Article journalist Mrs. Mathiopoulou
Maria Area : voria.gr
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