Ypaithros Magazine: Awards for Kyklopas olive oil continue!
Evros conquers the world
Text: Maria Ampatzis
Kyklopas olive oil, from Makri in Evros (northern Greece), was at the top of the podium at the TERRAOLIVO 2019 olive oil competition in Israel, winning their 99th award in a decade. Shortly before the centenary, the Agronomist and Public Relations Manager of Kyklopas SA, Valia Kelidou, spoke to Ypaithros Magazine about their high quality product, alongside the consistent quality, that hides the secret of the family’s success.
"Our olive oil is the result of a long-term effort with consistent quality from the first to the last bottle. The awards are an indirect way of advertising our products, as we enter global listings, for those who seek quality. Greece has been making good progress in recent years, there is constant improvement and we are seeing more and more and better efforts", she explains. The Kelidis family cultivates 12,000 olive trees and 2,000 organic olive trees, and Kyklopas extra virgin olive oil has placed the village of Makri on the world olive oil map. They emphasize the quality of production and the minimization of chemical control even on conventional olive trees. "The thorough care of our trees are because we do not want the chemical composition of the olive oil to be affected even slightly. We export to countries like Taiwan, with very strict policies on chemical composition." The awards strengthen those companies that turns towards demanding markets.
They also export to Japan where they won two awards (at Olive Japan for "the best Greek olive oil" and gold at Joop Japan). "We export all over Europe, with the exception of Italy and Spain. Also, to Canada and the US through Amazon. Our exports have increased", says Ms Kelidou, attributing success to hard work and relationships of trust that they have developed.
Kylopas SA has introduced three soaps in the field of skin care, made from their own olive oil, with lavender and tea tree, sandalwood and cinnamon, green clay and mint, as well as a natural body oil.
Choose Greek
"We chose to expand our product range with products made from our oil because the consumer is asking for it." Ms Kelidou stresses that every product they use is Greek, from raw material to their packaging. Also, the dressings that are available in six flavours are made from olives crushed with real fresh fruits and herbs from the Greek earth that are cold pressed together with olives harvested only a few hours before.
See the article online here!