members of the Agricultural Cooperative of Kritsa on World Olive Day, with their awards

The International Olive Council (IOC) decreed November 26 World Olive Day, for “seminars, trade fairs, or symposiums showcasing the relationship between olive products and health, olive growing and the environment, the history of olive growing, the olive economy, etc.” in IOC member countries. Various olive and olive oil events were planned in Greece.

In Athens, as Agronews reports, the Club of Friends of Olive Oil, FILAIOS, joined the Greek olive oil industry organizations SEVITEL and ESVITE, the National Inter-Professional Organization of Olive Oil and Table Olives, the scientific society Greek Lipid Forum, and research and academic institutions to set up a series of events to celebrate Greek olives and olive oil from November 23 to 30, the days the IOC suggested. These include promotions in restaurants and stores, games at schools, and a one day lecture/discussion event focused on "Olive & Olive Oil: Sustainable Farming, Sustainable Development" on November 28 at the National Research Foundation (in Greek). (For more information about the Athens events, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

The IOC awarded grants to help support events carried out to celebrate World Olive Day between November 23 and 30. In Greece, Ypaithros reports, the Olive Oil Tasting Lab of Kalamata and the Technical Educational Institute (TEI) of the Peloponnese received an IOC grant, as well as support from the Greek Ministry of Agriculture and LIDL Hellas, to help finance their activities on November 25: a workshop focused on a tasting session and discussion of olive oil quality by a German tasting group and a group from the Greek Ministry of Development and Competitiveness, followed by a public conference about olive oil quality that covered tasting, olive varieties, and distribution.

In Crete, a variety of events marked World Olive Day and week. The Association of Cretan Olive Municipalities (ACOM or SEDIK) worked with the Region of Crete, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh), the municipalities of Chania and Rethymno, and other groups to prepare informative, entertaining, and celebratory events on and after World Olive Day.

In Chania on November 26, olive oil producers, distributors, and exporters gathered at MAICh with high school students, their families, local dignitaries, and other community members for the students’ theatrical performance about an olive tree said to form part of Odysseus’s conjugal bed, a documentary about the olive in Cretan culture, an olive oil exhibition with tastings, olive oil snacks, a discussion of best practices in olive oil extraction, and awards for olive mills that follow such procedures or use the best methods for olive oil distribution.

ACOM has also organized a similar event that will take place at the House of Culture (Σπίτι του Πολιτισμού) in Rethymno on November 29, with a different theatrical performance, awards for the hotels that best promote Cretan olive oil, and a presentation about the use of olives and olive oil to improve the quality of tourism and extend the tourist season in Crete. (For more information about this event, which will be in Greek, or about participating in future events co-organized with ACOM/SEDIK, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

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