Olivealoe in Chania, Crete
It’s all started out of love towards the long tradition of olive oil that has to be traced through the ages taking us back to back to mystical paths of mythical civilisations in the Mediterranean region.
In ancient Greece, athletes ritually rubbed olive oil over their bodies, while leaves of olive oil trees together with their branches was the equivalent of nowadays medal reward for the winners of the first Olympic Games.
Drops of olive used to be seeped towards the bones of the dead through holes in their tomb, while leaves and branches perennial symbols of abundance, benediction and purification were offered to deities and powerful figures.
Cultivation was widely spread from the ancient island of Minoan Crete to Mesopotamia. It was the mystical glow of olive oil that broadly named it in its home countries, including Egypt, as the ‘‘liquid gold’’.
Started as a cosmetic
Although most people are aware of olive oil as an essential food supplement with many nutritional benefits, very few know that its first usage was as a cosmetic extraction.
It is a widely spread view that ancient man discovered olive oil after stepping with wounded bare feet on olives, which had been dropped on the soil. The olive oil that was coming out of the fruit was a refreshing reliever for his tired legs. Archaeological evidence comes to prove this, with olive oil amphorae since early Minoan time appearing to contain herbs for medical purposes.
It was also Hippocrates, probably the most outstanding figure in the history on medicine, that in the 5th century B.C. recommends olive oil for certain ailments, as well as for healing abrasions, muscles invigoration and skin soothing from dry climate effects.
Crete and Olive Oil.
Lost between history and tradition, year after year, olive oil production classified Crete in the Mediterranean region to be one of the most traditional representatives of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the food market industry.
With hundreds of family businesses, olive oil production is an integral part of daily life. This is how our story begins. Three friends and an old family business, year after year shaped in the early 90s Cretan Taste.
Its people, with knowledge and experience, had the vision to export all traditional products, including olive oil, in order to make the so called “Cretan Diet”, which had always proved to be the reason of longevity, an international well known traditional dietary model.