About Us
Here, every olive grove resonates with stories from an age-old tradition. Our story spans four generations of a family driven by love for their land, devotion to time-honored values, and vision for the future.
Our Story
The beginning
It all starts back in 1900, when Constantinos Diakoumis began cultivating olive trees and built a traditional horse-drawn stone mill.
The next generations
The next generations followed in his footsteps and in 1988 his grandson Constantinos set up a modern mill in the village of Kynigos, Messinia. Founded on deep-rooted principles and staffed by people with knowledge and experience, the mill grew steadily and by 1997 evolved into an exemplary production and bottling facility redolent with the scents of Messinia’s countryside.
Today
Today, we continue the story of our family by blending tradition with the latest advances in olive oil making and marketing. We deploy new, sustainable practices and adopt forward-looking strategies aiming to serve markets in Europe and beyond. Our vision goes hand in hand with our dedication, hard work, and love for the olive tree and its precious gifts which haven’t changed since the old days. These values, passed on from generation to generation, are both our roots and our future.
Olive Grove / Harvesting
Our family groves have some 5,000 olive trees over 50 acres of land. They are entirely organic and tended according to the principles of sustainable farming and the accumulated knowledge and experience gained from four generations of olive growers.
The olives are harvested from October to December using a combination of traditional and modern practices that prevent damage to the tree and keep the fruit from bruising. We only collect the best olives, those that ensure the prime quality and great taste of our Extra Virgin Olive Oils.
The olive oil mill
Set up in 1988 in the village of Kynigos, not far from the storied waters of Navarino Bay, our family-owned mill is constantly upgraded with new capabilities and advanced equipment.
Exclusive ownership affords us full control over all our resources, while modern technology helps us ensure the effective and sustainable management of the olive fruit at all stages of the production process.
In addition to producing the ELMES line of extra virgin olive oils, our organically certified mill also serves other local farmers, contributing to the promotion of Messinia’s bounty and the support of its rural communities.
Certifications
Our olive oil mill has been certified under the ELOT EN ISO 22000:2018 food safety management system by the RTA certification body. It has also received an organic production certification from TUV Hellas and an Agrocert certification for KALAMATA PDO olive oil.