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Gryllos 27055, Greece

Join us in a journey of discovery and grounding, where the timeless “think global, act local” adage is applied in practice. A study in self-sufficiency, resilience, and pragmatism in olive oil and beyond.

Having gone from olive oil consumers to producers, the Cricket Hill team can appreciate challenges on both sides. Here is how we have experienced the olive oil production cycle in 2024, and our insights, advice, and plans for 2025.

Hint: This year we have more olive oil, better logistics, and are planning some on-site local events too. If you’re interested in bringing nature to your table, or combining learning new skills and nature, read on and join our newsletter or reach out directly to be in the know.

Getting hands-on

Let’s pick up from where we left off last year. 2023 was a bad year for olive oil, that much was clear. Having experienced this first hand, as well as having read and digested different analyses, we came to the conclusion that we're looking at a prolonged crisis. 2024 was not as bad in comparison, and it may appear that things have improved, but there’s a lot to unpack here.

We share our own experience, and then zoom out to see the big picture. In 2024, we spent more time in the olive grove than ever before, and got actively engaged and hands-on in every step of the process. We moved to the area in March to kick off the season with pruning, and never left till mid-November, after the harvest.

Being based so close to the olive grove meant that we were able to see the signs and react to different conditions as they unfolded. By now, we felt that we have accumulated enough experience to be able to do this. We did most of the work ourselves, outsourcing only what required a tractor to pull off under our direct supervision.

This turned out to be a good decision in many ways. First off, the joy of the work itself. Manual labor tends to be looked upon as something tedious that’s best avoided by most white collar workers. Laboring in the olive grove takes some getting used to, but what doesn’t? This work is serene, invigorating, and fulfilling. You get to see the fruits of your labor, literally.

There’s no better example for this than the forsaken olive grove. When we bought our land a few years back, we got not one, but two plots of land. In addition to the main olive grove, the previous owner sold us another small plot of land. That plot of land is about 200 meters away, but it lies on the slope of a different hill - and what a difference does that make.

Nobody paid any attention to that land for years. The only way to access it is through a narrow dirt road driving through a creek. The road was blocked, and overgrowth and weeds covered the land and the trees. Enabling access and clearing the land looked like a herculean task, but somebody had to do it. We didn’t expect this to pay off anytime soon, but did it anyway.

Springtime went by with good conditions - sunlight and rain in equal measures, neither in excess. We kept doing our part as needed, tending to the land, fertilizing, and keeping weeds and pests away using 100% organic methods. The vast majority of the olive oil on the market is produced using industrial farming methods, and that’s something we’ve witnessed first hand too.

Olive Oil in 2025

And then came summer. The longest, hottest, driest summer anyone had seen. Not a single drop of rain from May on. It was intolerable for people and trees alike. What set out to be a good year was turning to a disaster, until some late August rain saved the day. The drought went on, however. For some, the damage was already done. Others, ourselves included, were luckier. 

Based on early estimates, olive oil production in the EU in 2024 was forecasted to grow by one-third. We don’t really know how that prediction measured up to the actual outcome, but as the saying goes, predictions are hard, especially about the future.

This prediction was made earlier in 2024, not taking into account the drought, or the cataclysmic rains that followed. While the ensuing rain helped inflate an otherwise stagnating harvest for many, it wreaked havoc on Spain and had an adverse effect on olive oil production and harvest as well. Here’s another olive oil fact: what you lose in quality, you can’t make up in quantity.

Irrigation as well as rain late in the growth cycle can help keep the trees alive and inflate the weight of the olives. But it’s only through rain, seeping through the tree’s leaves during the long period of maturation before harvest, that top quality olive oil is produced. Dry heat followed by torrential rain is not a good combination.

Our olive groves are not irrigated, for a number of reasons. We prioritize quality over quantity, and if we can’t water properly, we’d rather not do it. Furthermore, water reserves in the area are at an all-time low. There are explicit instructions against irrigation from the local authorities. While we understand the need for irrigation, doing this would be a questionable choice.

Still, we were seriously considering one-off irrigation as an emergency measure. What gave our trees a chance, as opposed to many others that didn’t make it, was the humidity that settles during the night at our location and our ability to harvest at the first available window of opportunity. Long story short, what started out as a promising year ended up with a sigh of relief for having made it through.

As for the final outcome - it’s complicated. We expected our yield to multiply, as a result of removing outsourcing from the equation and what seemed to be a good year. The drought hampered our yield, but the unexpected gift that was the forsaken olive grove partly made up for it. We’ll never forget the moment we realized those trees are bearing fruit after years of neglect.

From the grove to the market

The net result is top quality, enough quantity to go to market. And here’s where it really gets complicated. Building a brand from the ground up, figuring out regulation, bottling, logistics, export - none of that is easy. But what’s probably the hardest part is pricing. 

Most olive oil production is done at industrial scale. Producers own vast areas and they farm them using industrial methods. Then they take their harvest to a local olive oil mill and sell the olive oil to the mill at wholesale prices. 

The mill in turn sells the olive oil, either directly to a company that will bottle, brand it and take it to market, or to merchants that act as middlemen. The end result is industrially produced olive oil, low prices for producers, high prices for consumers, and a nice profit margin for everyone in between. 

As a result of last year’s catastrophe for olive oil production, a number of things happened in the market. First, prices rose to the point where we saw low-quality, industrially produced olive oil sold at exorbitant prices. 

Some dishonest merchants tried to take advantage by mixing olive oil with cheaper and lower quality alternatives. Others filled in the gap by importing olive oil en masse from non-EU countries. Many consumers reacted by turning away from olive oil. We think there’s a better way, hard as it may be.

We are aiming to take our olive oil to the retail market directly. We want to establish a price point that’s right for a product that’s artisanal and top quality, and is also fair and competitive. We’ve been working on our branding, and going through the requirements to bottle, sell and ship our olive oil to consumers.

Logistics has been a challenge. So far we’ve only been able to ship to a handful of destinations (mainly DACH countries), but that’s changing. If you are based in Europe, and interested in having top quality olive oil delivered to your doorstep, get in touch!

You can either contact us directly, or subscribe to our newsletter. If you contact us, we’ll let you know how you can get a preview sample as well.

Nature, History, Gastronomy and Culture

Last but not least: in the spirit of cosmo-localism, we are not only exploring ways to bring nature and its products to people, but also people and their ideas to nature. 

Cricket Hill was at Connected Data London 2024, as a Speaker Lounge and Buffet sponsor offering our olive oil for tasting. Even if you didn’t make it there, you can experience this blend of innovation, education, and nature first hand. 

We are working on organizing local events in our area, on topics ranging from AI and emerging technology to philosophy, history and political economy. Plus, we have our Nature, History, Gastronomy and Culture Tours to discover the all-around beauty of this land.

We will soon have more updates on that. In the meanwhile, you can always reach out or join the newsletter to be the first to know.