Preparing for Harvest and Production

Harvest time is right around the corner!  A series of early rain showers means that this year the harvest and production period will begin much earlier than previous years. In fact, we are expecting to start harvesting olives within the next week.  However, there is much  preparation work to do before we can begin harvesting and  milling.  First, the fields must be cleared of grass/weeds and any trimmed branches that were left under the trees so that when the nets are spread on the ground to catch the falling olives they are not ripped or stretched.  Second, we need to clean all the factory equipment and machinery that has been unused since the last production season.  It is of paramount importance that all machinery be spotless so that nothing will undermine olive oil quality.

These preparatory tasks have been assigned to our two newest interns: Greg from the UK and Jerrod from the United States.  As you can see from the following pictures, they are both working hard to clear the fields as well as to clean all the factory equipment!

The Intern House is Finally Ready!

Since the beginning of August we have invested much time in restoring, furnishing, and re-decorating a charming little village home for the interns who work at Biolea. The house belonged to two local sweet elderly ladies who decided to leave the village in order to be closer to their children and grandchildren. With a lot of help from the interns themselves, we finally completed much of the construction, cleaning, painting and plumbing last week!  The house has two rooms, both of which can host two interns, and includes a large, fully equipped kitchen, a bathroom, and a little garden with fruit trees, herbs and flowers. A  high-speed internet connection will be operating in the next couple of weeks. The neighbours are always friendly and the entire village is most excited to see young faces bringing new life to the area! See more pictures of the house on the sidebar link

Intern # 2 !! Vijayakumar Shanmugam

Vijayakumar Shanmugam, or as we came to know him, Vijay, is a bright 27-year old  student originally from India who arrived at Biolea on the 27th  July 2011.  During his final steps in completing an MBA at the University of Pisa, Vijay came to Biolea in order to research his thesis on olive oil marketing as well as to cultivate his general passion for pursuing a career in agriculture and food processing. Raised in a family of sugar cane farmers,  Vijay had a lot of interesting insight and was very keen on expanding his knowledge of cultivation and marketing of organic olive oil.

Aside from his contributions to the fieldwork in preparation for harvest as well as his research concerning product advertisement and marketing, Vijay is exceptionally skilled in Indian cuisine as we came to know from tasting his wonderful curry!  We were looking forward to working with him during the harvest and production, but unfortunately Vijay had to leave early due to his academic obligations. Vijay stated that “there is a lot to learn from Biolea”  and that if he had the chance he would visit us again one day!

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!