Warning ! Seriously addictive

The EVO3 olive oil is produced on the Greek island of Lesvos. The label informs that for each bottle sold, a tree is planted in a deforested area which, in an out of itself, is an incentive to prefer it to other high end oil contenders on the market place.

footer-bottlesWe have made it a bit of a speciality of ours to taste and review olive oils from different estate and countries. This one is addictive to the point that we cannot leave it alone.

Lighter in consistency than Italian oils and without the spice, EVO3 has a very distinctive flavour.  It is reminiscent of green olives, with its hint of tanginess, and because of its texture, could be used at any time of the day. We have it for breakfast with bread and black coffee (it makes milk obsolete and balances the acidity in the coffee) and as a healthy snack on just about anything, but especially on chopped tomatoes.  If you add it to salads, you might find that you don’t need to use vinegar at all – a twist of lemon would suffice, if anything.

The colour is intense gold. The aroma is also very distinctive and we have refrained from cooking with it, lest its delicate scent gets lost in the process.

We think this is an outstanding salad and dipping oil, so more-ish that you could easily consume a litre a week without even noticing. The health benefits of doing so are well-documented, so we will not cover that particular ground.

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Words from founder Stratis Camatsos:

evo3’s Evolution

When I decided to move back to my home country, Greece, with my wife and child, amidst one of the worst financial crises that Greece has had – and is still enduring – people thought that I was crazy. However, I saw it as an opportunity; one that would combine family tradition and giving back to society. Thus, I went to work to bring to life and share with others my family’s love for olive oil but also for helping the environment and society.

The result was evoᶾ, which stands for extra virgin organic olive oil. A love of labour which embodied history and service, evoᶾ is a story. A prefix for evolution, it is something that gives rise to the birth of a new concept, of an olive oil with a social cause.

And this is what makes evoᶾ different from the rest of the olive oils in the market; not only because of its high quality, but also because of the environmental and social cause behind it. The heart of evoᶾ is its concept. For every bottle sold, a tree will be planted in a deforested area in Africa and Haiti through its partner, Eden Reforestation Projects. These areas are also the most impoverished ones, thus by employing locals to plant and further take care of the trees, new employment opportunities are also created. Furthermore, allowing parents to be able to earn a decent wage they are able to afford to send their children to school and get education and not having to be forced into child labor just to get by. After planting and careful monitoring, their land becomes fertile for farming with a sustainable ecosystem.

However, the aim was also to give consumers a high-quality, exquisite organic olive oil coming straight from the family olive groves and produced only from the native types of olives foundon the island of Lesvos. It is a natural blend of aromatic sensations forming a velvety, fresh olive oil with a delicate piquant finish. In its first year on the market, it was awarded a silver medal at the New York Internaitonal Olive Oil Competition 2014 for its taste and quality, a bronze medal at the Greek Olive Oil Competition 2014 for its unique branding concept of a social enterprise, and recently a DiplomeProduit Gourmet award at the AVPA World Edible Olive Oils in Paris.

Traditional methods of harvesting are important to keep, but I also combined them with sustainable methods in order to keep my family’s groves 100% organic and free from pesticides.

The aim is for everyone to share the passion and love for extra virgin organic olive oil – its exquisite aromas and taste. However, I not only want everyone to be a part of the story of buying one bottle, and planting one tree and creating a livelihood for those in need through the olive oil, but also to be a part of our greater journey. I hope to inspire like-minded people to ask the question, “What’s my cause?”, and to take that step into their own evolution, with creating something sustainable and join those who want to serve, who aim to bring business to another level, by ensuring they not only take, but also give back to society.

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