Extra virgin olive oil production has been a fundamental part of the lives of the Tsouderos family for almost a century: from grandpa Tsouderos, founder of the first olive mill to the son who modernized the old mill to the grandson, Vangelis, who is keeping the decades-long family tradition, introducing the business to the 21st century…
The patrimonial olive groves of the Tsouderos family, alike the other local producers’ groves, stretch out in one of the most stunning parts of the Cretan land: a strip of land with intense geomorphology that begins at the Preveli region in the east where one the most rare ecosystems of Crete occupies a great part of the land, continues to the beautiful region of Plakias with its serene, sandy beaches and strong Etesian (annual) winds to end in the west at Rodakino where the landscape is harsher and wilder in beauty. The refreshing Etesian winds cool and soothe the sun-scorched olive trees during the mild Cretan summer and the endless sunlight gives them the strength needed to absorb all the goodness from the countless endemic wild herbs to acquire the unique peppery, wild-herb aftertaste.
Armed with fresh business ideas and a contemporary entrepreneurial approach, Vangelis Tsouderos successfully carries on the old family legacy of the olive oil business. Very few have the vast knowledge and expertise or share the secrets of the production of superb quality of Cretan extra virgin olive oil. To this precious legacy Vangelis has added state-of-the-art bottling and labelling equipment and he is now aiming at new markets in the food industry worldwide: his life goal is to take the precious, unique in flavor and quality Cretan olive oil to every single food shop shelf, making it known as a truly special olive oil. Vangelis Tsouderos successfully incarnates the contemporary businessman: modern in mentality, active and competitive yet firmly rooted in his fatherland, a family-man with tradition-oriented ethos and sound values.
For many years Cretan olive oil was a well-kept secret of health and longevity of the people of Crete. It is our conviction that this precious, golden-green-colored liquid extract of the Cretan olive groves should travel to the households around the world and become an everyday dietary habit.
This really sums up our vision: start at the primordial olive groves of Crete and reach every corner of the world, proud advocates of the wholesome, nutritious, health-giving Cretan diet.
Our principles are twofold: respect for tradition, commitment to the future. Our foundations are firm, we never rest on past achievements, always pursuing new markets and new challenges.
For some decades we have maintained strong business relationships with select few olive fruit producers while at the same time we have cultivated our own olive trees at our olive groves nearby. This policy enables us to ensure the best possible raw material, the olive fruit, from which we cold-extract its juice in our state-of-the-art olive mill directly from olives and solely by mechanical means.
The next stage for olive oil is also carried out in modern installations using the latest in olive oil bottling and labelling technology: we acquired this equipment back in 2011 to achieve complete and vertical control of the overall quality of our olive oil. We choose from the industry’s most advanced, innovative and easy-to-use packaging that will bring out the aroma and safeguard the fresh flavor of our olive oil.
