Our Story

In Panagia of Thassos, Nikolaos Sotirelis installs a wooden rodana (watermill), a millstone made of Thassos stone and a handmade press and starts the production of olive oil for the first time. It also installs a flour mill which operated after the end of oil production.

Sotirios Sotirelis exploits the power of the watermill and starts a series of operations parallel to the mill. He builds a slit for the exploitation of the Thassian pine.

The first three-column hydraulic press is inserted. The pressure is no longer generated manually but comes from a pump which operates through the watermill.

From 1942 begins the production of soap from olive oil, which lasted until 1947.

The wooden watermill was replaced with a new, metal one of greater strength and power

The first Galardi separator
was purchased. It is noted that until then the separation of vegetable fluids from olive oil was done by gravity-natural sedimentation

Sotiris Sotirelis, with a homemade construction called burato, which was essentially a type of crusher, ground pine bark and produced pine flour. Pine flour was used at that time to dye fishermen's nets and clothes

Due to the needs of the time and the area for construction materials, a brick production unit (pottery) was installed which operated until 1963. The pottery was driven by the watermill and used clay soils from the area of ​​Thassos.

We have the partial electrification of the unit. Specifically, from all the equipment of the olive mill, the millstone and one press began to operate with electricity.

The facilities were expanded and the mill was now fully electrified. Patent

A dosing device is installed for the first time. This machine automatically spread the right amount of olive paste on the oilcloths.

This is the first time that malaxers are used for the production of olive oil

The first bottling of olive oil takes place in a glass bottle. In the following years, standardization became a dynamic part of the business where, in addition to glass bottles, tinplate containers are also used.

The company is funded by the European Leader + program and makes the olive mill in Panagia visitable while at the same time it forms an area-room for displaying and tasting olive oil. Special praise from the program supervisors is given to the family for the construction of the representation of the watermill as it operated since 1915. Uniqueness was the ability of the wheel (watermill) to rotate with the force of water and move the millstone, pump and the press.

The company is entering a transitional phase, replacing hydraulic presses with a three-phase decanter. The same year, the 1st olive and olive oil festival takes place in Athens. The organizers of the exhibition ask the family to provide them with photos of the traditional olive mill and the representation of the water-powered mill that they use in their advertising campaign. As a thank you move of the above concession, they have free space in the exhibition.

The family decides to modernize and relocate. Specifically, in the Port of Thassos, it is constructing a modern two-phase olive mill. The olive mill starts operating according to the strictest health rules while it begins the study and implementation of the food safety management system ISO 22000: 2005 and is certified for the production and standardization of organic olive oil.

The making of olive oil soap begins again.

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In addition to solid soap, the company innovates by preparing liquid soap with a unique fatty substance, olive oil. At the same time recognizing the special properties of olive oil for the skin, it prepares traditional ointment and spatholado

The mill is certified for the production of olive oil PGE (Product of Geographical Indication)

Innovative and inventive, the successors of the family business, find a solution to the hitherto unsolved problem of managing the two-phase olive kernel. They produce from the olive pomace by-product biofuel, soil fertilizer and animal feed. This results in a complete management of the mill's waste, zero outflows and can now be characterized as 100% environmentally friendly. The grandson Sotirios Sotirelis and the collaborator in the above project Athanasios Lykou are awarded a patent.

After many experiments and changes, the company decides on the choice of its current logo and starts based on it in the pre-printed bottles of 250 and 750 ml.

After listening to the demands of the consumer public for natural products, the production of cosmetics starts only with extra virgin olive oil and vegetable essential oils, without preservatives and chemical additives.

The standardization of early harvest olive oil begins, an olive oil with high health-protective properties, intense aroma and extremely low acidity