Importing olive oil from Greece

If my memory serves me at this time, you are from Poland are you not?

I used to post a long time ago as strauss1944, over at another branch, if my memory is correct, it is good to touch bases with you again.

If not, can i commend you on you trying to do this?

The obvious thing to say would be to contact via e-mail the umbrella orginization of the olive oil producers of Greece, they surely would have a list of producers that you can deal with direct.

But it might be better if you waited a couple of days, before you done this as within a short time there is to be a vote on the financial situation, perhaps it might be better to get things under way, and then wait a couple of days?

But no matter what you do, good luck, and god bless.

yes, hi there jstutu/strauss 1944, I am surprised you remember where I live as I have never been a terribly regular contributor on LPTT, and especially not in the past year or so. Thanks for your suggestions and I intend to wait a few days and see how the situation unrolls. No matter how much one can say they should have seen it coming, it is still very sad to see the average person suffering as a result of the situation.

At the time of writing, I understand that all bank transfers of funds from Greece to the outside world are blocked (with a very few pre-agreed exceptions). Businesses in Greece are reporting that it is not currently possible to pay for imports into Greece.

I don't know for sure, but I would be surprised if payments to Greece are being blocked - the Greek banks will want to make sure they can get their hands on as much cash as possible. But given that the liquidity of the banks is at serious risk at the moment, such that many of them could fail at very short notice, I would not be sure of payments to Greece reaching the intended recipients.

Is it possible for you to pay for your purchase by a credit card? I don't know is this is practical.

This company on Crete sells 5-litre bottles and tins of EVOO. http://www.emelko.gr/index-0-.html

You can also do a google search for farm collectives in the Kalamata region that process and sell their own oils.

An update on payments to Greece today, according to a major UK bank this morning.

In theory, payments can be made to Greece, but there may be delays in payments reaching the designated bank account. Yesterday, UK banks did not process payments to Greece as the Greek payment system wasn't operating.

Evidently the situation remains very uncertain, and I would say nobody should rely on payments reaching Greece at the moment.

My friend who lives in Greece produces some excellent olive oil. Sadly, he reported two days ago (Sunday) that a cheque he had paid in (which previously would take an amazing 15 days to clear but now takes 26 days) was due to be available to him next day but the banks were not expected to open. Likewise, I would expect people are reluctant to take credit card payments as they have no idea if or when they will ever be able to access their accounts. If you were to contact the "umbrella organization of the olive oil producers of Greece", as jstutu suggests, they will only recommend co-operatives/big companies who amalgamate the olive oil of many small producers. I will contact my friend to see if he has any oil left and would be able to do business with you!

Thanks all :)
I am only intending to buy relatively small amounts of oil as initially it will be just for me and my family though friends of mine might later like to try it, if the olive oil is good.
I shall look into the different suggestions made above. Again, thank you for your advice.

I am only intending to buy relatively small amounts of oil as initially it will be just for me and my family

Your profile shows you living in Poland. In that case and because of the current economic confusion you would be better off going online to locate Greek Olive Oil from an importer in Poland.

If I had any oil remaining from last winter's harvest, I would be happy to supply piaczka. In December, I will have more.

Greek olive oil, especially that produced in Lakonia is generally of very good quality - perhaps too good for cooking with. Most of the oil produced is sold into local cooperatives from where it is sold on the wholesale market and much of it ends up in Italy where, disappointingly, it is blended with Italian oil which, except in places like Tuscany, is of inferior quality. The wholesale price of Greek oil is about €3.50 a kilo which is less than €3 a litre.

Some small producers do supply private buyers with bottled oil in various sizes. I have seen this oil for sale in specialist shops in London for about £40 a litre.

If piaczka wishes to contact me, we can discuss the possibility of supplying some oil after the next harvest.