London born Kamil Shah (co-founder of Olive Branch) comments on Christmas in Crete:
At Christmas time, we often return to Crete to spend the festive period with my wife Maria’s family. It is a very significant period for us, not only for Christmas, but also since it coincides with the olive harvest. Maria’s family own olive groves on the island which is where our “Olive Branch” extra virgin olive oil originates – so the olive harvest is as significant to us as the festive celebrations. Whilst I’m now very familiar with the Christmas routine in Crete, my first festive visit there some years ago was full of surprise.
On this particular year, our harvest was much later than usual and most of our crop was picked on 22-24 December with a couple of days rest for festive celebrations and then back to the groves between 27-29 December!
Coinciding head-to-head with Christmas, visits to the church were fascinating as I’d see locals embrace to wish one another Happy Christmas, but I could tell that they were more eager to exchange stories about the day’s harvest and how the annual crop has fared. This continued into the mild evenings, where local Kafeneon (coffee shops) were full of men sipping a coffee or raki (local distilled drink) continuing their conversations about how many sacks of olives they’d gathered that day and how the quality of the extra virgin olive oil has compared to the previous year.
Local homes and shops were decorated with Christmas trees but I could tell that Christmas in Crete was all about the olive tree! As our business of supplying our Olive Branch extra virgin olive oil in the UK has grown, I sometimes get more preoccupied with the olive harvest so I guess I have neatly adjusted to the festive camaraderie of Crete!