Our Family History

For thousands of years, the Greek city of Sparta has looked south to the verdant Evrotas River Valley for its food. With its rich soil, mild climate and endless sunshine, the Evrotas Valley is famous for the quality of its abundant  offerings of fruits, vegetables and grains.  

Nestled in the heart of the beautiful Evrotas Valley, lies the ancient town of Elos. With about 900 residents, Elos is small but rich in history, noted in Greek mythology as a town founded by Helot, son of Perseus.  Elos has been home to our family for over 300 years. It is here, in Elos, that my Great Grandfather George Stamatakos began our first olive grove.

An Olive Oil Heritage

In 1920, our Great Grandfather George planted 70 young olive trees in his small plot of land so he could have olive oil to meet the needs of his family. Year after year, he lovingly pruned and tended his trees in order to grow the very best olives...plump, rich Koroneiki olives, famous for the exceptional quality of their oil. Every December, he picked his olives by hand and used a traditional hand-operated press to extract the precious green oil. 

Following in his footsteps, Grandfather Vasileios shared his father’s passion for the land and was able to expand the farm by gradually purchasing additional plots of land near Elos and planting more olive trees. By the 1950’s, Grandmother Vassiliki was able to sell olive oil to neighboring families, and a business was born. 

I grew up in Elos and spent every day learning our family olive business at Grandfather’s side. From the time I planted my first tree at the age of four, I felt my own passion for our land and olive trees. I knew it was my future. Today, our family tradition continues. Our farm cultivates over 12,000 olive trees in the rolling hills surrounding our beautiful village of Elos.     Vasileios.