It's Not Just Olive Oil. It's Oliváki.
In Greece they say that if you throw a stone over your shoulder without looking, there's a fair chance you'll hit someone who makes olive oil. They're not far wrong - the country has hundreds of thousands of olive farms.
But olive trees and good olive oil are not the same thing. What separates them is how the grove is farmed, and by whom.
Small Olive Company works only with small, family-run, organically farmed groves. There is no shortage of choice, which is why we're proud that the first one is the Stavropoulos family's Agrilies Estate.
Since 1890
Long before Oliváki reached your table, its story began in the hills of the western Peloponnese, where the Stavropoulos family has been caring for olive trees since 1890. Five generations on, the work is still shaped by the seasons and by one lesson learned over and over: exceptional olive oil is never about rushing nature. It's about understanding it.
Organic First, and Forever
Xenofon Stavropoulos and his family are fine olive farmers. Xenofon is also a geologist and a former university professor - which is why farming organically was never a difficult decision for him. He knows the land and he understands the science.
The estate takes only natural inputs. It isn't the easy way to farm and it certainly isn't the profitable one, but it keeps the soil healthy - and healthy soil makes healthy trees, healthy trees make exceptional olives, and exceptional olives make exceptional oil.
The proof isn't in the story. It's in the oil.
Caring For Every Tree
Most of the year's work happens long before a single olive is picked. Specialist teams prune each tree by hand, opening the canopy to sunlight and airflow. Xenofon’s grandfather had a simple rule:
"Cut the branches so a bird can fly through the tree without touching its wings."
At harvest the pace changes, but the principle doesn't. Nets go down beneath each tree and the branches are shaken gently, protecting both the fruit and the tree. Every tree is important and to farmers like Xenofon, every tree has a story and a personality. So the family deliberately avoids aggressive harvesting methods because caring for tomorrow’s harvest is just as important as today’s.
Looking After Tomorrow's Harvest
Healthy soil creates healthy trees, and healthy trees produce exceptional olives. Wherever possible, natural materials from the milling process are returned to the land, helping regenerate the soil and complete the natural cycle between harvest and future growth.
A SMALL DISCOVERY
It takes around 13 years before a newly planted olive tree can produce biologically certified olives for our oil
Five years to begin producing fruit. Up to ten years to reach full production. Then another four years of careful biological farming before the olives can be certified. Great olive oil has never been a race. It rewards patience.
A SMALL DISCOVERY
Every 500ml bottle of Oliváki contains the oil from approximately 2,500 Koroneiki olives
Thousands of olives, cared for over an entire growing season, come together to create every bottle.
A SMALL DISCOVERY
Specialist pruning teams carefully shape every tree, even the farmers do not attempt it.
Pruning isn’t simply maintenance. It’s an art that protects the long-term health of every tree while preparing it for future harvests.
A SMALL DISCOVERY
Some olive trees in Greece are estimated to be up to 5,000 years old
Their extraordinary lifespan is a reminder that olive farming has always been about thinking beyond the next harvest and caring for generations still to come.
Every Bottle of Oliváki Begins in These Hills.
Everything you’ve discovered here forms the foundation of what we do at Small Olive Company. The patience of the family,
the care invested in every tree and the countless decisions made throughout the year all contribute to what eventually reaches your table.
The story continues as every olive leaves the grove and begins its journey to become Oliváki.