Friday, July 17, 2015
Sliced, or whole, stuffed or pitted, green or black, Chalkidiki olives are tasty, fleshy and nutritious. Cultivated in northern Greece on the Chalkidiki Peninsula, the olives benefit from mild climate conditions and soil characteristics which make the olives rich in flavour, round in shape, spicy, slightly bitter with a hint of fruity aroma and without any hint of oiliness.
This local product has been known for millennia. The first indications date back as early as the Hellenistic years and Roman times, and production included olive mills. By Byzantine times, the Chalkidiki olives had turned into a article of trade and in the 19th century, olive farming was the primary economic activity.
Olives are harvested every September and the process lasts a whole month. The olives are handpicked and gathered from the olive tree by farmers standing on ladders. An average of 60% of the total harvest is processed, and 80% of total processed production is exported to Europe, Northern America and Australia. The exports are worth approximately €300 million annually, and engage 80 processing units and 40 olive presses.
