Paeleon EVOO will be at the following markets this week:
Tuesday, September 16th: De Forest Farmer's Market 3-6 pm
Wednesday, September 17th: Capitol View Market (on Cottage Grove Rd) 3-7 pm
Friday, September 19th: Stoughton Farmer's Market 8 am to 1 pm
Saturday, September 20th: Janesville Farmer's Market 8 am to 1 pm
Please contact me if you have any questions regarding product availability or if you need directions to the markets! Cell Phone: 920-359-1796
Paeleon Extra Virgin Olive Oil will be available at the Fitchburg Farmer's Market today, between 3 and 6 pm. We hope to see you there!
Vasileios
Farmer's Markets this week in the Madison Area:
Tuesday Aug 19th: De Forest Farmer's Market 3- 6 pm
Wednesday Aug 20th: Capital View Farmer's Market 3-7 pm
Thursday Aug 21st: Fitchburg Farmer's Market 3-6 pm
Friday Aug 22nd: Stoughton Farmer's Market 7 am - 1 pm
Saturday Aug 23rd: Janesville Farmer's Market 8 am - 1 pm
I will have the following sizes available for sale this week: 250 ml, 375 ml, 500 ml, 1/2 gallon. Please, email me if you would like to purchase a 1 Gallon size. Also, the Lemongrass Eucalyptus Essential Oil and the Cranberry Fig Fragrance Oil Castile Soaps are ready.
See you there!
The summer is finally here ... and with it the amazing Dane County Farmer's Markets. Below is a list of all the farmer's markets we will be part of during the 2014 season.
When and Where:
We plan to be in the above farmer's markets consistently throughout the summer, rain or shine. However, things do, have and will come up occasionally that will prevent us from attending. We will update our farmer's market attendance weekly on our Facebook page.
Feel free to contact us at any time if you have any questions or if you need to make special arrangements for products drop off at your location. We do that too! Free of charge (usually!).
Come check us out. We would love to meet you!
Vasileios
What: In this video you can watch how we press the olives.
Watch on YouTube: http://youtu.be/iBYuhShN66U
Where: The press we used this year belongs to Korbakis Petros. It is located about 25 miles South East of Sparta, in Laconia Greece. You can visit their website directly at www.korbakis.gr.
When: December 6th 2013.
Thank you,
Vasileios
What: In this video you can watch how we clean the olives from leaves and branches before we put them in bags and take them to the press.
Click on the link: http://youtu.be/NSEfByeZr1A
Where: The name of this olive grove is "The Rock". It is located about 25 miles South East of Sparta, in Laconia Greece.
When: December 6th 2013.
I will be sharing one more video with you, so stay tuned for more!
Thank you,
Vasileios
What: In this video you can watch how we close the nets and prepare to put the olives in cloth bags.
One of the guys that helped asked me to make him famous and get him to Hollywood! I said: How about Madison Wisconsin?
Go to the link: http://youtu.be/MAu3IUQm77Y
Where: The name of this olive grove is "The Rock". It is located about 25 miles South East of Sparta, in Laconia Greece.
When: December 6th 2013.
I will be sharing two more videos with you, so stay tuned for more!
Thank you,
Vasileios
What: I am so excited to share this video with all of you! It is one of many that I took while I was in Greece last December. You will watch one of the ways that we use to pick our olives.
Click on the link: http://youtu.be/73oeJS2nKYk
Where: The name of this olive grove is "The Rock". It is located about 25 miles South East of Sparta, in Laconia Greece.
When: December 5th 2013.
I will be sharing three more videos with you, so stay tuned for more!
Thank you,
Vasileios
This is one of the most interesting articles on olive oil for 2013! It was published by The New York Times on December 30th 2013, and a printed version was available on December 31st 2013.
For those of you that would like to read the whole article, the link is: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/business/international/spain-tightens-regulations-on-olive-oil.html?hp&_r=0
For those of you that prefer the condensed version, I have selected the key points bellow.
In Spain, the restaurants and cafes have a small bottle of olive oil on each table that the customer(s) can use with their meal. That bottle has traditionally been without a label. It is to the judgement of the owner of the store to choose the quality of the olive oil he uses.
In the beginning of January 2014 a new law took effect in Spain and all the restaurants and cafes are now required to have a labelled bottle of olive oil instead of the generic one. Bellow, I have summarized the opinions of all the organizations and individuals that were interviewed concerning this matter.
The Spanish olive oil producers and Government believe the law will:
The Northern European Countries (Germany) believe the law:
UK Prime Minister believes:
The Hotels of Spain believe the law:
The upmarket establishments (which means high end restaurants) believe the law will:
One group of customers at a Cafe in Madrid believe the new law:
My thoughts and comments on the article.
The olive oil war in Spain! Perhaps I should say Europe, since both Germany and Britain had something to say about it. I feel especially heated up about this article because when I was in Greece in May 2013, EU was discussing pushing the law to take effect throughout Europe. And I will admit that I was excited about it. How could I not be. I am an olive grower in Greece with over 13000 olive trees under my management. I go to a lot of trouble to produce the highest quality EVOO by harvesting at the proper time, pressing immediately after the harvest day, controlling the temperature and storing my products in the appropriate environment. On the other hand, there are growers who are not paying as much attention to their products, but when we both try to sell our olive oil in bulk, without a label, we get the same price. If, however, the restaurants and other food businesses are pushed to use only labelled olive oil, it will be easier for the high end EVOO brands to be recognized. So, do I see a benefit in the new law that Spain imposes within it's borders? ABSOLUTELY! I firmly believe they will:
Of course, one could ask: how about the higher cost that will come along with this change? The new law will create slightly higher cost (about 30%) for the restaurants and the cafes, but not for the end consumer! If each customer in that cafe consumes 1.5 oz of olive oil with their meal, it will cost the restaurant $0.09 more to feed that customer. So, I think, if a restaurant raises it's prices because of the olive oil law, they were simply looking for an excuse.
Concerning the rest of the comments on the article, it seems interesting to me that northern European Countries find the new law in Spain "not necessary". Perhaps they are trying to protect the interests of larger corporations, who have standardized the quality of their olive oil to a certain (medium) level and they do not want to allow small grower brands to emerge. As far as the British Prime Minister is concerned, I do not even understand why anyone would ask his opinion on an olive oil law. Finally, the position of the Hotels is understandable, because due to the competition they are facing, their profit margin is very limited and they cannot easily justify an increase on the price of the commodities they use, even when we are talking about olive oil. But then again, they do not have to use the best olive oil either!
I hope my Greece would step up and adopt a law like that. It is worth mentioning that over 80% of the olive oil that is produced in my country is Extra Virgin. Furthermore, 70% of the exported Greek EVOO goes to Italy in 50 Ton tanks. Nothing illegal about that, but there is definitely an issue! That excellent Greek EVOO will reach the market under an Italian brand. Please, do not take me wrong, I have nothing against the Italians. On the contrary, I deeply admire them. They recognized the value of Extra Virgin Olive Oil long before Spain and Greece and they established laws to protect it.
Please, feel free to share your comments and thoughts on this!
Vasileios
I am excited to announce that we have been accepted to vend Paeleon Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Soaps at the Fitchburg winter Farmer's Market. The market is held every Thursday between 3 - 6 pm November 7th through December 19th (No market on Thanksgiving Day!). The address is Fitchburg Community Center, 5510 Lacy Rd, Fitchburg, WI. Only 6 miles South of Madison Capitol Square!
Paeleon olive products will be available at the market on the following dates
Please "contact us" if you have any questions about product availability or if you would like to place a bulk order.
See you there!
Vasileios
