Meet the Intern! – Sigfried Sneyers

Sigfried Sneyers, 24 years old, interned at Biolea between April and August 2011.  Originally from Belgium, Sigfried moved to Crete with an ambition to start a permaculture farm. He started working at Biolea in order to gain more experience about food production and farming.  Sigfried worked in many aspects of olive-oil production, such as field-work, bottling and labeling, and marketing. Perhaps most impressive was his contribution to finding and securing an important client in Belgium. Aside  from his hard work, creative marketing insight, and persistence, we loved his great sense of humour and the uplifting atmosphere he created in the workplace.

In Sigfried’s own words:

“An internship on a great location in Crete, the company is managed by a lovely Greek/Canadian family. The internship teaches you how the olive oil production works from the olive field to the bottle. In my internship i had a big range of jobs like managing the trees, guiding tourists around the olive factory, bottling the olive oil and marketing the product. Besides that, i learned a lot about the importance of olive oil in our diet and how the best quality can be achieved. I did this internship so i could learn more about the production, management and quality of olive oi and of course enjoy the Cretan culture and nature. Thanks for the great opportunity. Best Regards,  Sigfried.”

We wish you all the best for the future Sigfried!  Don’t be a stranger…

The Internship So Far…

WELCOME to Biolea Astrikas Estate!  The Biolea Internship was initiated in April 2011.  Our goal in introducing interns to Biolea is to teach and share our knowledge and skills but also to gain new insights and fresh perspectives from individuals outside the company. The internship involves working in all facets of  traditional olive oil production, from cultivation and milling to agrotourism, marketing and customer relations. Located in perhaps one of the most beautiful mountainous regions in Crete, we offer a unique experience in learning about the production and marketing of organic extra-virgin olive oil, pairing traditional methods with modern standards, the difficulties and barriers of today’s food industry, and the true Mediterranean diet.

Since April the internship has progressed very well; we have hosted two interns already, Sigfried from Belgium and Vijay from India, both of whom learned a lot and proved very helpful and insightful in different areas of production.  They  helped in such tasks as clearing fields in preparation for the harvest period, bottling olive oil, coming up with new marketing ideas for products, providing information to tourists who visit the mill etc.  The interns are constantly trained to acquire new skills, such as using power tools, learning how to work in the olive groves, learning the “politics” of business and how to communicate with clients and customers, as well as a small introduction to the Greek language!  We have already received a great number of applicants for this year’s harvest and production period; we look forward to working with and learning from more interesting people and keeping this internship going!