Routine news: someone holds a seminar. Fresh twist: someone has a seminar about removing olive pits before the olives meet their doom at the press. On Monday, July 21, 2025, from 10:00 to 15:00, Heraklion will host this riveting event at the Ibis Styles Heraklion Central, room A. Is this just another meeting, or has the Greek olive oil industry finally hit rock bottom? Only time will tell.
Behind the snappy poster, the project “Kotinos” aims to spark innovation in olive oil production. A delightful combination of science, teamwork, and possibly the worst snack plate ever, the project aims to create both premium olive oil with extra bioactive compounds and a new use for the debris left behind: the pits, sludge, and liquids produced during pressing.
Key Details Tourists Won’t Hear on the Beach
- Signals a shift in how the iconic Greek olive oil is made
- Focuses on removing the pit before pressing the olives
- Targets the production of olive oil packed with health-friendly compounds
- Finds a second life for olive byproducts such as pits and sludge
- Olives gathered across Crete, the Peloponnese and Lesvos for two years
- Involves top Greek universities and cooperative groups in every step
- Gets funding for rural “innovation” (a word that usually means fewer goats, more PowerPoints)
When Olive Pits Go Missing
The “Kotinos” project, steered by the Hellenic Mediterranean University’s rector, Professor Nikos Katsarakis, reads like a who’s who of Greek academia. Add in Nikos Thomaidis’s team from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (they judge oil like others judge wine) and Michalis Foundoulakis from the University of the Aegean. Toss in co-ops from Messara and Ilia and an enterprising Lesvos mill. Suddenly, the pitiless revolution is well-staffed.
Those tasked with collecting olives (the fruit, not the cheap soap) didn’t just stick to one spot. They sourced various varieties from three different regions: the Peloponnese provided Koroneiki and Kolireiki; Crete offered Psilolia and Chondrolia, while Lesvos shared Adramytini and Kolovi. Each found itself processed both the traditional way and without its pit. Scientific? Yes. Excessive? Probably. Entertaining? Thoroughly.
The Fine Print
- Seminar in Heraklion, July 21, 2025, at Ibis Styles Heraklion Central
- “Kotinos” project explores pitless olive processing
- Seeks both advanced olive oil and new lives for leftovers
- Olives from three regions and several local varieties were tested
- Partnership between universities, co-ops and one particularly busy olive mill
- Funded by the European Innovation Fund for farming projects
Of course, innovation rarely comes without paperwork. “Kotinos” enjoys funding under EU programs so dense that they use more words describing their scope than the entire Iliad. While the rest of Europe races toward robot-driven tractors and lab-grown steak, Greece focuses on pitting olives. Priorities, after all.
Is this event about witnessing earth-shattering breakthroughs? Unlikely. But if anyone wanted an excuse to visit Heraklion in July, this is as good as any.