Greetings to all olive oil enthusiasts! I am Jaime Dieppa, known as the ‘Olive Explorer’
– or, as my German friends say, Olivenentdecker. My passion for olive oil has taken me across the Mediterranean, and today I would like to share a very special chapter of my journey – the one that took me to Crete and revealed something extraordinary there.
It all started in Spain, the world capital of olive oil. My fascination with this golden elixir began here and has been growing ever since. I travelled the olive oil-rich regions of Andalusia and Seville, where I first fell in love with what I now affectionately call ‘the wonderful juice’. But I had no idea that my annual windsurfing trips to Crete would soon take on a whole new meaning.
For years I visited Crete without realising that I was in one of the top spots in the olive oil world. But in that particular year, everything changed when my love for olive oil met the endless olive groves of Crete. The valleys were filled with trees stretching as far as the eye could see, and the air was heavy with the scent of fresh olives. But it wasn’t just the magnificent olive trees that impressed me – I was also lucky enough to taste some of the most spectacular olive oils on my trip. It was as if everything suddenly made sense – I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
On that trip, I met Maria of Aerakis, a family business with deep roots in Cretan olive oil tradition. Their olive oil journey began in 1967, when Maria’s father discovered his passion for the craft. In 1978, he took the next step and established his own olive oil production, laying the foundation for one of Crete’s finest olive oil companies.
