We are in the middle of harvest and so far we have hosted at Biolea a number of volunteers from all over the world: Slovenia, the United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, Spain and Austria! We are very excited that so many young volunteers have traveled to Crete to learn about harvesting olive groves. We hope they have a great experience
Some final remarks from our two summer marketing interns Amandine from France and Chirine from Lebanon. It was a pleasure having them at Biolea!
AMANDINE PRIMAT
“After holidays in Crete one year before, I decided to know more about this country that’s why I have done my internship in Biolea to complete my diploma.
First of all I want to thank all the Dimitriadis family. George for the knowledges that he communicated me during these 2 months, Chloe for her patient and help everyday and Christine for listening and her availability outside of work.
If you come in Biolea, you will be welcoming by very nice person for sure! Thanks to them the life in Crete was easy and pleasant.
Then, about the work, I learned many things about farming ( a great experience when you live in a city!), how to produce high quality and of course marketing. These people are passionate and I think is the most important.
I learned also about greek culture, one thing is sure : I really enjoyed the fresh food giving by the neighber! I had the chance to visit many places in Crete and had good memories.
I wish the best for these people, this company and hope to come in Biolea as soon as possible to see them again ! Wish a good harvest for this year!”
CHIRINE ALAYAN
“After studying food culture and communications in Italy, I had a great opportunity to go to Crete and experience the Greek food culture which is highly dependent on olive oil. Biolea was the right place for me to learn about artisanal olive oil in terms of history, traditions and at the same time sustainable production. I learned how a small-scale business can run and practiced hands on marketing. I was also very happy to be among Biolea’s family that showed me warm hospitality and made me feel like home.”
The summer internship for 2012 has begun! Two interns have joined us this summer, Amandine from France and Chirine from Lebanon, to form a new marketing team for Biolea. So far the girls have been working hard on promoting Biolea to their assigned target markets.
They have also been taking part in other types of activities, such as helping with the tours of the factory, attending conferences at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, going orange-picking!
Although it was hard to watch them leave, the winter inters have finished their time here at Biolea and are off to new adventures! Here are some parting remarks from two of the interns:
HENRIQUE:
“I ca
me to Biolea after completing an M.Phil. in English Literature at the
University of Cambridge, looking to do something completely
different/unrelated to my degre. A number of reasons brought me to Crete:
– A desire, before the responsibilities of a career/full-time employment,
to take a break from academic life & experience a profession that I
greatly admire but have no intention of pursuing.
– A strong interest in the history & culture of Greece and, more broadly,
of the Balkans / Eastern Mediterranean. Needless to say, then, that
working at Biolea – a company that looks to the history of olive oil
production for inspiration and innovation – is a very interesting
experience.
– A desire to learn Greek.
– The opportunity to live in the Cretan mountains. Although modern olive
oil production is by no means an idyllic experience (was it ever?)
walking/cycling around the environs of Astrikas were very enjoyable
aspects of my stay here, as were visits to the local cafeneion after a
hard day’s work.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my time at Biolea was the extent to
which, counter to my initial expectations, I found many of the skills I
acquired to have a wider relevance. Seeking to work more efficiently as a
team while at the same trying to attain greater self-reliance was, for
example, a challenge that I was confronted with every day. Completing a
marketing project on the UK market, formulating my own marketing strategy
and receiving Iorgos’ insightful feedback also introduced me to some of
the difficulties and challenges facing olive oil producers today.
I am greatly indebted to Iorgos & Christine for their warm hospitality
and, above all, their patience. Although I at times struggled to adjust to
the demands of farm labour, I certainly found my time at Biolea to be very
rewarding. Thank you also to fellow interns Chloe, Jerrod and Greg for
your patience and good company! May this year bring Crete a plentiful
harvest!”
JERROD:
“When I first started my internship, I knew nothing about producing olive oil and the olive oil industry at large. While I had previous agricultural experience, nothing could have prepared me for the depth, focus, and immersion in olive oil business and organic farming practices I received at Biolea. The care, attention, and training shown towards me by George and Christine was exceptional, so much so that recapping what I learned in a single, succinct paragraph (if that was even possible) would serve a great injustice to the program instituted by these two. The joy I received from being involved in every step of the process, from harvesting to pressing to bottling a superior, hand crafted product was immeasurable. The stunning, sun-soaked Cretan backdrop only added to this singular, fantastic experience.”
We are now accepting applications for the summer internships 2012.
At the end of the production season it is finally time to make the lemon and bitter orange oil! It is perhaps one of the most rewarding experiences for interns as they get to take part in making a product that is unique and also delicious! Having a traditional stone mill gives us a great advantage as we are able to introduce other products, such as lemons and oranges, into the mill and crush them so that their flavours are combined with those of the olive oil. The final product is outstanding!
The idea of producing these flavoured oils was actually inspired by the history of the surrounding villages. In the past, local stone mills used to operate in almost every village for the production of olive oil. In these mills at the end of each production season, the villagers had to figure out a way to clean the stones and pressing mats using the few materials and resources that were available to them.
The villagers cleverly picked the lemons or bitter oranges from their fields and milled them so that their juices would clean the stones and remove the remaining olive oil from the mill! The olive oil that resulted from this process had such beautiful aromas that it was stored and used specifically for traditional Christmas sweets.
Following our village ancestors’ tradition the interns picked organic bitter oranges and lemons from our grove located in Platanias, a village near the seaside. They then brought the fruit back to mill and killed two birds with one stone: they took part in making delicious flavoured olive oil as well as cleaning the mill so that its is ready for next years production!!
The harvest is slowly coming to a close and the smell of freshly-milled olives still lingers in the factory. Biolea uses the traditional stone-mill process, an olive-oil production method considered to yield the sweetest, mildest, and healthiest of olive oils. The interns had a unique opportunity to work with this method which has now been abandoned in most Greek villages and in different olive oil producing regions of Europe. Many tourists and journalists from all over the world have visited the factory for this reason; the interns even had the chance to meet a very interesting crew from the National Geographic who visited the factory to film the production of stone-milled olive oil.
After the olives are transferred from the field they are separated from the leaves, washed and weighed before being dropped into the mill. The huge stones, made from granite from the Alps, and each weighing from 2 to 2 1/2 tons, then roll over the olives forming a thick paste. As the interns learned for themselves, the milling process is quite complicated and requires constant observation and decision making; if the paste is not milled enough or is milled for too long we are not able to get the maximum quantity of olive oil from it. The paste is then spread onto the pressing mats and
transferred to the presses, which in turn squeeze the mats to release the liquids inside the paste.These liquids, which consist of vegetable water and olive oil, are stored in containers until they separate naturally so that finally the olive oil can be gathered.In contrast to other production methods this method of separating the olive oil from the vegetable water may be slow, yet it is the most beneficial as the oil retains all of its health benefits.
The interns took part in all aspects of the olive oil production and were especially pleased to taste the final product!
Special thanks to Ashley for the photos!
Despite being miles away from home, intern Jerrod and Ashley invited everyone to celebrate Thanksgiving yesterday. With a little help from the American base we were able to find a turkey for the dinner which was cooked to absolute perfection by Ashley! Jerrod prepared a range of other delicious dishes, including sweet-potato mash and green-bean casserole. The dinner concluded with a mouth-watering home-made apple pie and ice-cream prepared by Christine. Needless to say the night ended with our stomachs stretched out and our spirits high!
Special thanks goes out our neighbor and co-worker Mixalis for lending us his oven! Jerrod and Ashley thanks for the amazing Thanksgiving dinner!
The olive harvest began officially on November 1st 2011. Our wonderful, hardworking, harvesting team includes interns Greg, Jerrod, and our newest “addition” Henrique. The first week of November was devoted to teaching the interns about the proper methods of using the harvesting machinery, safety procedures, and various techniques for efficiency and speed. The harvesting process is quite simple: the interns will work for two days in the olive groves to gather enough crates of olives to start a production of olive oil.
See more pictures of the harvesting on the Flickr Link
Yiorgos Konstas from local newspaper “Xaniotika Nea” interviewed the interns yesterday while they were making sewing repairs to nets that will be used for this years harvest. The story made today’s newspaper’s front page and has a full-page article devoted to the interns, their work, and their enthusiasm for their experiences at Biolea.
You can see the article at:
http://www.haniotika-nea.gr/80818%CE%9C%CE%AC%CE%B8%CE%
B7%CE%BC%CE%B1%20%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%B9%CE%BF%
Our interns are becoming famous! Nina Barrett from Chicago public radio station WBEZ91.5 visited Astrikas this week to do a story on Biolea. When she heard about our internship she wanted to interview the current interns, Greg and Jerrod, about their experience so far. Nina informed us that the interview will be broadcast soon and that she will be sending us a link to the podcast that will be available online. We will be posting the link soon!
INTERNING AT BIOLEA ASTRIKAS ESTATE 
