Since antiquity, the concepts of “The Mediterranean” and “the olive” have been interwoven. According to Mediterranean historian, F. Brodel, “The Mediterranean begins where the first olive trees bloom and finishes where the first palm-tree forests line the African continent.”

The olive oil or “liquid gold”, according to Homer in antiquity was not just a food, but a symbol of health and strength, medicine, and also a source of magic and wonder. Specifically, in ancient Greece, athletes rubbed it all over their body,not only cleaning their body on completion of their training by sweat and dust,but also because they believed it would give them strength and luck.

Fossils have been found in olive Livorno, Italy, dating 20 million years ago, while the cultivation of olives is estimated to have begun in the wider Mediterranean, before about 7,000 years. With regard to Greece, the first evidence of its cultivation in Greece, according to archaeological findings, started in Crete 3,500 years ago.

Even though western European habits in attire, culture and nutrition were adopted by the Greeks during the last century, what is remarkable is that the sector of olive oil not only resisted this new inclination, but also became the only Greek element that imposed itself on the rest of Europe.

The increasing trend of the Cretan diet, which for obvious politico-economical reasons has been renamed as the Mediterranean diet, began over the past decades and is now gaining rapid ground worldwide, year by year. The nutritional, nutritional and biological value of olive oil on the human body is very important and for that very reason, is among a list of 10 most beneficial foods.Recent scientific studies have shown that the Mediterranean diet, which includes the consumption of olive oil is the healthiest, responsible for the longevity and prevention of many diseases.According to statistics, the consumption of olive oil in Europe, as well as throughout the world, is on a steady increase.

Populations of countries that traditionally consumed animal fat have acknowledged the dietary value of olive oil and over the past few years have been converting their dietary habits. This fact has had positive psychological and economical repercussions on olive-producing countries..

PRODUCTION:During prehistory, humankind decided that collecting the fruit of wild olive trees did not suffice to fulfill its needs, and thus began the systematic production of the olive crop by initially domesticating the indigenous, wild tree and subsequently creating olive groves.

This long-drawn, laborious process is widely held to have begun on Crete.

So the company Apollonia came to produce the traditional way the oil from the island started this process and today we have this wonderful food product from nature in our home.