A Greek producer has been associated with organic olive oil as few and has been honored with hundreds of international awards, setting a record.
George Sakellaropoulos, owner of olive groves in the roots of Taygetos and Parnonas, has a record of performance “that will hardly be achieved by another olive grower on the planet,” the Athens Agency notes in its tribute.
His own points contributed 28% of the 14,727 points collected by Greece, winning this year the first place in the world, in the main category of high gastronomic flavored olive oils.
The most recent of its products are olives in the form of powder in a capsule for lowering cholesterol. In 16,584 olive oils, from 2105 companies in 37 countries around the world, the organic olive oil of its olive groves is in the top ten with the best olive oils of Koroneiki variety in the world for 2021.
– The 400 awards for your organic olives and olive oils are now a World Record. What is the beginning, how did it evolve and what are the ingredients of excellence and uniqueness that bring all these distinctions?
Engaging in olive growing was the evolution of the special bond I had developed with the sacred olive tree and the natural way of life. The passion for quality and innovation motivated me in 1992, when organic farming was still an unknown concept in our country, to consciously choose certified organic olive growing, exclusively Single Estate.
The excellent combination of ideal conditions of microclimate, flora and fauna at the foot of Taygetos and Parnon, gives our organic oil products primary characteristics of superior taste and quality, which are collectively defined as Terroir “Sakellaropoulos Organic Olive groves”.
In 2012, and only after 20 years of testing and preparation that we went through, began the conscious participation in the recognized international competitions around the world, with our triptych and flag our beliefs (…) from 2012 until today we were honored with many and repeated international awards, reaching a unique number of 400 international awards which is a world record for a Greek oil producer.
We compete internationally for quality companies and producers from countries such as Italy, Spain, Tunisia, France, Morocco, Turkey, USA, Argentina, Chile and many more.
It is noteworthy that the last five years, our olive oils have been found three times in 1st place in the world and twice in 2nd place in the category in the world ranking of olive oils, while especially in 2018 was the first time in history that Greek olive oil and Greece as a country that produces it, reached the 1st place in the category of olive oil worldwide.
The olive oils and table olives of your olive grove are now passed through major universities, such as Yale and Harvard, with clinical research and studies. How are Greek functional foods “utilized” in such studies?
We have focused, with scientific documentation and international recognition, on the production of high quality functional food, ie foods that have been shown to have beneficial effects on human health. Today, our organic olive oils are being used in the three-year Mediterranean Intervention Study, conducted by Harvard University and the School of Public Health, on the daily diet of 1,000 volunteer firefighters at 44 fire stations in the United States.
At the same time, the organic reeds of our olive groves participate exclusively in the research entitled “Olives for Health”, conducted by researchers from the School of Public Health of Yale University in America, in collaboration with researchers from the Department of Cardiology, Yale Medical School .
The purpose of these studies is to assess the benefits to human health that result from the daily consumption of our organic oil products. Also important is the first clinical study of EKPA on the positive effect of daily consumption of reed olives of our olive groves on the lipid profile of healthy volunteers and in particular on the LDL / HDL cholesterol ratio and the protection of the cardiovascular system.
At the same time, a second clinical study was conducted, from 2017 to 2021, in which more than 100 patient volunteers participated and the results of which are expected to be announced very soon.
The impressive results of these clinical studies, with a daily intake of only 5 of our organic olives, allowed the research team of the School of Pharmacy of EKPA to convert Sakellaropoulos olives olives in powder form into an capsule with an international patent, to reduce it.
Overseas markets and exports have never been easy, they are highly competitive and – unfortunately or fortunately – only the best can survive in such a marathon. As all modern statistics and our personal experience show, we are now convinced that consumers internationally appreciate and turn to special products and especially to organic functional foods, quality foods with a specific identity.
This identity and therefore the added value given to gourmet products must be practical. Either in the form of specialized analyzes, international awards and distinctions, recognized qualities such as health claims, clinical studies, special features and combined uniqueness.
Source: new.fox-24.com