Gaea
CERTIFICATE
AWARD
Gaea products attend product panel testing every year and receive many awards, our Gaea Fresh and Planet specifically are always amongst the high scorers.
VISION
Joy for life, is what us Greeks live by, it is the belief that life should be built on happy, joyous, beautiful, full of experience MOMENTS, a life where at the drop of a hat, you can fill a table with food, put on the music and cheers with your friends, moments are almost always created around food in Greek culture, so we bring you a full range of Authentic Greek products, that are carefully selected to enhance this very Greek joy for life philosophy, natural, genuine and honest, just like our earth.
DEEP ROOTS
Greek „Paradosi“ [Pa-ra-dosi] („tradition ” Tradition describes a group's beliefs and behaviours that are passed down from one generation to another.
Over 7000 years of history and tradition circulate the Olive tree and it's stories in Greece, all the way from the Minoans to todays Greek families, the olive tree is worshipped almost like a God.
Endless accounts of olive trees exist in Greek mythology, but we won't bore you with all, perhaps the most famous one that surprises people is the story of the capital of Greece Athens!
Legend has it that when Athens was built and the patron God was to be decided, the Athenians held a pitch!
The God that gave the citizens the most precious, useful and divine gift, would receive the honor of the city carrying his or her name.
Poseidon struck his trident in the ground and a constant salty water stream formed!
This didn't really impress the Athenians, I mean, Salty water?
So when goddess Athena came along and struck her spear on a rock an olive tree sprouted, a tree that would offer shade, endure the long Greek peninsula summers, but also harsh winters, it would bear fruit you could eat, or fruit you could squash and use its juices for cooking many dishes and not only, the olive oil would take centre stage in every aspect of the Greek lifestyle.
Needless to say who won the competition!
Hippocrates himself mentions at least 60 olive oil based ailments. The ancient Greek athletes used to rub themselves in olive oil, and even to this day when children are born, it is customary to bring olive oil as a gift.
In modern religion in Greece children are baptised by being soaked in olive oil!
I think you get our point, Olive oil in Greece is not just instilled in our cuisine, it is part of the Greek soul, it has been the main trading product for thousands of years, it has raised families and even provided for families to excel in other parts of life, it is a currency, and one that we Greeks take very seriously!
VALUES
Greek. meraki [may-rah- kee] (adjective) This is a word that modern Greeks often use to describe doing something with soul, creativity, or love -- when you put "something of yourself" into what you're doing, whatever it may be.
It’s a thrill to discover new flavour experiences, but eating food that is natural and free of additives, is what really gives a multi sensorial pleasure experience, one that is guilt free and can only do good. With Gaea, you can achieve all the amazing results you desire, whilst doing good to your body and the earth, making sure you can be proud of what you serve on your table, or consume in your body.
All ingredients that enter our facilities are checked meticulously in order to ensure everything is of the Gaea standard!
These are not that hard to list to be quite frank, everything needs to be natural, certified and fully traceable to it's source. From there on it is a matter of Meraki, all our products are first adored by the team and then we would send them to our consumer, who we heavily involve in the process. And for this our products receive many awards every year!
FROM FIELD TO TABLE
Every step in our olive oil production contributes to the quality and preservation of its natural characteristics. We follow the best available practices in olive oil production, which contribute to a consistently superb quality of Gaea Extra Virgin olive oils
GAEA’s Best Practices production steps
- The olives are harvested in November – December, for higher polyphenol content.
- The olives are hand-picked with the help of simple tools, in order to protect the fruits
- They are carefully placed in baskets before going to the oil press
- They are cold pressed within a few hours of harvesting
- The olive oil is stored in tanks containing nitrogen in order to slow down ageing and is kept under a controlled temperature, in a lightless environment.
- All GAEA’s Extra Virgin Olive Oils are bottled in dark bottles in order to restrict light absorption, which oxidizes Olive oil.
The Olive oil arrives in our facility in Agrinio Greece and it is stored in climate controlled silo's in order to preserve it's freshness, the bottles are then filled as per order, it is then shipped of to all corners of the Earth for you to enjoy!
We then offset our carbon emissions for most of our products by reinvesting in Carbon elimination.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
Climate Change is a reality that demands a higher level of responsibility from all of us. In recognising the severity of this issue, GAEA has minimized its impact on the climate by measuring and counterbalancing carbon emissions (CO2) of its olive oil products, in cooperation with the Swiss organization “Myclimate”,
Furthermore:
Climate Change is a reality that demands a higher level of responsibility from all of us. In recognising the severity of this issue, GAEA has minimized its impact on the climate by measuring and counterbalancing carbon emissions (CO2) of its olive oil products, in cooperation with the Swiss organization “Myclimate”. Measurements of carbon emissions are taken during the entire production cycle. This includes the cultivation and transportation of olives, the production and bottling of the olive oil and, finally, the distribution of the product from Greece and abroad. As a result, the GAEA extra virgin olive oils "Planet" and" Fresh" have minimized their negative impact on the environment and have become the first Extra Virgin olive oils in the world certified as Carbon Neutral.
The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization which believes that every consumer should be able to make an informed choice about whether to consume genetically-modified organisms. Analytical testing of seed, crops, ingredients, and products is done at critical points of the production chain to verify that the processes and practices employed by all participants meet the non-GMO Standard. GAEA products are Non-GMO project verified.
Design and implementation of a new project aimed at the reduction of energy consumption in our factory premises in Agrinio.
- Gaea 100% recyclable Olive pouches one of the first on the olive market
- Replacement of the lighting system in our factory and offices with an energy-saving system.
- Recycling program for packaging materials.
- Recycling of batteries (through the AFIS program).
- Recycling of electrical and electronic devices.
- Recycling of paper and print cartridges in our offices and factory.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
As a Global Greek brand we believe the more we grow and reach people we also have a social responsibility, we want to reach them beyond their palate, we want to intrigue the mind, helping them create memories that will last forever and give them a sense of belonging.
A secret that benefits the world should not be a secret, and we have a secret, the real Greek culture, the one that Greeks keep to themselves. As a far reaching brand across the world however we have a responsibility to share it, it might not work for everyone, but if it can help even one person then we are more than willing to get that message out there, se here it is:
A healthy diet is essential to a happy body and a happy body means a good mood and a happy person, so if you feel a bit down, we recommend you change your eating habits. Now we are no experts so we won't start recommending random diets, there are specialist for that. But what we do know well is that these specialist recommend the Mediterranean diet as a healthy diet and this, we know VERY well.
It is very important to surround Yourself with people who understand you, are not judgmental and make you feel good after meeting with them, even if they made you cry by telling you hard truths, basically avoid Toxic people is what we are saying.
In Greece we say that anyone who makes you smile and laugh, is someone you should never lose from your life. Also important to check that you are not emotionally intoxicating yourself by negative thoughts, for example measure how many times a day you sigh! too much sighing may be an indication you need a little boost in life, we all do at some point.
Change your scenery often, get out, get in touch with nature, find a place where you can see the horizon and take it all in, let the Earth's vibe reach you try touching the earth barefoot!
Nature heals us in ways we can't even contemplate, so being outside as much as you can is a staple of the Mediterranean countries because of our good weather, but remember nature is everywhere even sitting under an umbrella touching the earth will benefit you!
Ok now this is a biggie to explain and we go through it in detail below but the short version is, Get mingling, go to any event you can that makes you happy, wither its a concert or a Museum night, when you are out and mingle with people the possibilities are endless, your life could change in an instant! If you stay home and spend time only with yourself or with the same people then chances of having something different happen to you are slim.
The more you adopt an outgoing lifestyle the more you will try and find time to attend even more!
SUPPORTING SMALL FARMERS
The Greek terrain is 80% mountainous, this means that cultivating olives is much harder than other countries that produce olives, this is great for our consumers as in Greece we still hand pick our olives, however it is difficult on an industrial level, it is therefore important to support small farmers in order to keep this tradition alive.
There are numerous benefits to hand picking olives, the main one that is in honour of Greece and small Greek farmers is that the method used by hand picking does not harm the birds and other animals that use the trees as well, a very well known method in many other countries is the olive suction from the trees, this method basically lines up with the trees and goes down the field sucking anything it can off the trees. Unfortunately in many cases this also means birds, squirrels and any other animal that can be in the tree at the time of suction, as this usually takes place at night it is the "resting species" that are affected most!
This makes it even more important for us to support smaller scale farmers in Greece as they struggle to keep up with this unethical industrial cultivation of olives.
So Pick Greek olives as they are all guaranteed to be hand picked under the sun!
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
There is nothing more exhilarating than finishing a product and seeing the people who love your brand enjoy it, apart from maybe creating it!
Our products all start from you, we find great ingredients that the magnificent Greek soil produces and we turn it in to, dressings, marinades, dips, sauces and many more....
We do the trials at our kitchen and once we are happy we invite you to be our testers and give your feedback from all over the world!
Once you are happy too we launch it ready for everyone to enjoy!
We stand by some very basic rules for us but increasingly difficult for others apparently!
All Natural ingredients, yes they don't hold well for ever and you need to consume them quickly, but as quickly as you eat them that's how quick they leave your body, no nasties staying behind harming you!
It might not be the perfect colour but the flavour is all natural 100% nothing extra added!
They help improve your wellbeing not burden it, keeping your mood up and elevated!
Here is our latest inventions! top secret for now, but if you would like to be part of our taste testing group, you can apply here.
FACTORY
Our Factory is in the region of Agrinio Greece, the region contrary to popular belief holds the largest production of the Kalamata olive variety.
GAEA’s factory is situated in a 15.000m2 plot of land, 1.5kms from the center of Agrinio city.
The factory building covers an area of 6.500m2 with 4 fully automated production lines:
- An olive oil bottling line, 6.000 bottles per hour.
- an olive bottling line, 7.000 jars per hour
- a line for the production of spreads and sauces, 3.500 jars per hour
- a line for the production of the innovative olive “snack pack”, 3.000 packs per hour
Furthermore, it includes a warehouse of 3.000m2 with refrigerated storage (200m2) and 10 stainless steel tanks, 30tons each, for olive oil storage.
The factory operates under the ISO 9001, HACCP, BRC and IFS high standards while it recently acquired ISO 14001 for the environmental accreditation.
Gaea olive oils "Fresh" and "Planet" are the 1st carbon neutral olive oils of the world, certified by the Swiss nonprofit organization “myclimate”.
The company already implements on – site compacting and recycling policy.
GLOBAL PRESENCE
Gaea products are available in over 30 countries in all main Supermarkets, so visit a store near you today for award winning Extra Virgin olive oils, Olives, vinegars, spreads, dips, marinades and dressings.
PEOPLE
Our team is based in Greece some of us are based at our central offices in Athens, some in our factory in Agrinio and a few of us are around the world holding the beacon of Gaea strong!
We are all experts in olives and olive oil, talented and extremely passionate about Greek culture and Gaea.