The olive tree probably originated in the Middle East, where its fruits have been used since prehistoric times. Along with the vine, the olive tree was one of the first plants to be cultivated and the practice spread from Central Persia and Mesopotamia to Egypt and Phoenicia and then to Greece. The Minoan Greeks of Crete were the first to engage in the full-scale cultivation of the olive, and from 2000 BC olives played a primary role in the island’s economy.
The ancient Greek philosophers and physicians soon discovered the curative properties of olive oil. This knowledge is being “rediscovered” today as modern scientists seek to determine why the Mediterranean Diet is so healthy.
There is an enormous range of tastes and flavours of olive oil, and much like wine, this depends on its place of origin, and whether the oil has been produced by traditional or mechanised means.
Although it would be wrong to assume that all the oils from one area taste the same, Greek oils have generally been described as being consistently herbaceous in character, varying from fresh and grassy to dry and hay-like depending on the growing conditions and extraction method. The degree of pepperiness varies form oil to oil.
Greece is the third largest olive oil producing country worldwide (after Spain and Italy), while the competitive advantage of Greek olive oil in relation to that of other countries is its fine quality: 80% of the olive oil produced in Greece is extra virgin. This compares with only 50% of Italian and 20% of Spanish. In terms of bottled olive oil, Italy and Spain hold first place in the international market: Italy was the first off the mark in promotion, while Spain has become the largest industrial producer. However, no other country can yet compete with Greece in terms of quality. Ironically, the same reasons that render Greece unable to compete in terms of volume of production also underpin the superior quality of the oil itself. The inaccessible mountainous areas do not lend themselves to machine-picking. The labour intensive nature of Greek production, whereby small groves of trees in remote areas are regularly tended by farmers, olives are hand-picked, and the crop is pressed on the day of picking, are factors which have prevented Greece from being competitive in mass market terms. Of course other factors include lack of effective marketing strategies: until very recently the Greeks have not tried to market their oil as a premium product, and so presentation and packaging have been minimal.
SINGLE ESTATE OLIVE OILS
A good deal of the olive crop in Greece goes to large cooperatives or industrial plants to be processed into olive oil of various grades and into table olives. Some of these establishments have built up a name for good-quality produce. The rest of the olives are pressed or processed on farms or at small local cooperatives. The quantities may be such that the oil is simply used by the grower, his family and friends, and perhaps his neighbours.
Other farms and estates produce somewhat larger quantities of oil which they press and bottle on the premises and sell as ‘single-estate’ oils. In recent years these producers have been able to establish a reputation for very high quality which allows them to charge top prices for their oils. As more people come to appreciate the virtues of first-class olive oil single-estate oils are finding a growing market and are increasing in number.
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