I was 3 years old the first time I walked the “perivolatha” with my grandfather Panayiotis. He showed me, just like his grandfather Antonios showed him, how the premium oil was made. I quickly fell in love with the family tradition and would spend summers with my grandfather in the village. In my teenage and college years, I found myself traveling to this land more frequently, always in time to help my grandfather harvest our olives. I cherished the days when my grandfather would take me to the old stone press, and show me how the oil was made. Being a college student in a large U.S. city, and also being able to travel to a small village in the foothills of Kalamata on winter break to learn to harvest and press olives was truly a blessing to me. My father came from poverty, and worked very hard to raise a family in the U.S., and provide me with a college education from a top University. At the same time, my grandfather, 4000 miles away, was able to teach me about our family legacy. I am the 5th generation of a long legacy that my great-great grandfather started. A legacy I am very proud of belonging to. We carry on the old world methods that my grandfather taught me, that his grandfather taught him, and that I plan to teach my children and grandchildren. In this modern world, we tend to lose sight of how things used to be, and trying to find an easier, faster way we lose quality with large scale production. I am blessed to have been able to be taught the old world methods, how to harvest our olives naturally and traditionally, the way it has been done generation after generation.

Since I was born and raised in the United States, it only made sense for me to carry on the family legacy to the part of the world that I am able to reach. This is why I have started Liokareas. At Liokareas, we are dedicated to bringing the world’s most pure, extra virgin olive oil to the United States. A Premium Koroneiki Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Sincerely,
Peter Liokareas