Dive into the centuries-old tradition of olive oil production in Albania. Discover how local families manage small olive groves with dedication and care and produce high-quality extra virgin olive oil
History hasn’t been kind to Albania in recent centuries. Ruled for centuries by the Ottomans, the country only became independent in 1913 with the Treaty of London. It did not remain peaceful for long, because Albania was repeatedly crushed by the rival superpowers in both the First and Second World Wars. After the Second World War, the country became a satellite state of the then Soviet Union and Albania was effectively isolated. It had little or no contact with either the West or the Eastern Bloc. Only in 1991 did that situation end, and Albania has been a parliamentary democracy since then.
The consequence of this somewhat sad and chequered history is that it seems as if time has stood still. This is especially the case inland, because in the coastal areas the first tourists have already discovered the sometimes dazzling beauty of the country. Travel organizations are eagerly including Albania in their online travel guides.
The average living standard of Albanians is low, but that does not necessarily mean that most people are poor. Many families own small olive groves from which they have for centuries been producing their olive oil in a traditional way and with the greatest care.
No, don’t imagine the endless (and dreary) seas of olive trees in Albania, as is for example the case in Tunisia. There you can find almost 100 million trees waiting for the annual harvest. That olive oil is shipped abroad in 1000 liter IBC tanks. In Spain it is far too often mixed with Spanish olive oil and then exported as ‘Spanish’.
In Albania, almost everything is still small-scale. Most families have just enough trees to get through the year with enough olive oil. But in the mountains around the town of Berat and surrounding villages, the slopes are full of olive trees. The residents of the region produce much more olive oil than they need, and they sell that abundance to improve their standard of living and that of those around them.
But after centuries of isolation, it is not so easy for them to find the right ways to manage exports. After all, every middleman eats away at some of the profit margins. What people needed was a passionate importer with his heart in the right place. They found that in Aljeta, active in the Netherlands and Belgium.
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Would you like to try this traditionally produced olive oil and support the Albanian people at the same time? Order your Albanian olive oil here.
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