Our Harvest

Award winning extra virgin olive oil with very low acidity. To enter international competitions, only the best olive oils are accepted and although not commonly known, acidity is the single most important measure to qualify olive oil. Acidity is the percent measured by weight, of free oleic acid (or free fatty acids), which is a measure of the oil's chemical degradation. As the oil degrades, more fatty acids are freed from the glycerides, increasing the level of free acidity and thereby increasing rancidity. According to International (IOOC) Standards, olive oil with less than 0.8% acidity is extra virgin olive oil. According to USDA standards, olive oil with less than 1.4% acidity is extra virgin olive oil. So, International (IOOC) Standards are more stringent than USDA Standards. Many things affect acidity (climate, soil, harvesting process, production process, etc.). Laconiko has an acidity between 0.20% to 0.30% due to the hand-picking, unique climate and soil (sand), timing of harvest and production, etc. The low acidity of Laconiko in comparison to typical oils varying from 1.0% to 2.0% is a measure of its superb quality and Award Winning status. Laconiko won a Gold Prize at the 24th International Fair of Thessaloniki (2008, Greece) and a Silver Medal at the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition (2009, USA).

 

Our olive oil is 100% extra virgin. Most olive oils sold in the United States are a blend of various oil grades (sometimes not even olive oil but rather canola oils, vegetable oils, soybean oils, etc.) and sometimes you can tell because the bottle label may list multiple countries in the back.   Did you know that even though a bottle may say extra virgin olive oil, only a portion of its contents have to be extra virgin olive oil? This has to do with the poor regulation policies, which do not dictate that 100% of the bottle's contents need to be extra virgin olive oil. Laconiko is 100% extra virgin olive oil.  

Our olive oil comes from a private olive estate. You may not know that the very best extra virgin olive oils are produced in private estates, where the olive oil cannot be mass produced. This is the reason why less than 10% of the world's olive oil production comes out as extra virgin olive oil. Did you know that although Italy, Spain, and Greece are the world's top producers of olive oil, Greece is the #1 producer of extra virgin olive oil? Laconiko is produced in a private estate, where a set amount of olive oil is produced each year.   Being a private estate allows us to properly monitor our trees, control watering and soil conditions, select an optimal harvesting period, minimize the delay time from picking to pressing to assure no chemical degradation of the olives, proper storing conditions, etc.   It is all these factors that allow us to produce one of the best olive oil.

All our olive oil comes from the Koroneiko olive tree. The Koroneiko olive tree is the most common in Greece and is one of the more unique olive tree varieties because it requires a warm and stable climate, which the Southern Peloponnese is known for. The Koroneiko tree is one of the few olive varieties that produce olive oil that have a two-year shelf life in comparison to most olive tree varieties which have a typical shelf life of 6 to 8 months. It is important to know that many olive oil companies elect to blend different varieties of olive oils in order to increase the shelf life, so the olive oil originating from the Koroneiko olive tree is in high demand. Laconiko is 100% extra virgin Koroneiko olive oil.

Our olive trees are in an ideal location and grown on sand. All our olive trees are planted in the sandy beaches of Southern Greece, right outside of Sparta. The sand is nature's best filtration system, thus eliminating impurities that may be present and assuring olives that are of the highest quality. Moreover, our private estate is located in one of the Natura 2000 sites, which are recognized by the European Union as sites protected for their unique habitats that safeguards the animals and plants which need these lands to survive. Being part of a Natura 2000 site assures that our estate is protected from environmental contaminants and pollutants. Thus further ensuring a controlled and quality olive production.

Our harvesting and processing is of the highest quality .   Our olives are hand-picked and processed with only mechanical pressing methods and not chemically treatment methods, which are typical.   A key to producing a high quality olive oil is being able to harvest the olive fruit without bruising it. This is very difficult to accomplish if the olives are not hand-picked.   Yet, because of how labor intensive hand-picking is, most olives are picked by big machinery that move over the whole tree and brush the olives off.   These techniques used for mass production inevitably bruise the olives and thus lessen the quality of the olive oil.   Moreover, timing of harvest, which for us occurs between December and January, is critical.   We pick our olives before they are fully ripe because it produces better olive oil.   This is not a typical practice though because if olives are ripe, they produce more volume of olive oil, so most producers compromise the quality for quantity.   Also, our olives are always cold-pressed within 12 hours of picking. This ensures that the olives are fresh when they are pressed so that there is no chemical degradation (oleic acid build up that would lead to high acidity).   By promptly pressing our olives after picking, we are able to achieve very low acidity levels which results to high quality Laconiko olive oil.   By having such high standards and keeping the family traditions alive, we are able to maintain and preserve the intensity of our olive oil flavor, aroma and its deep green color.