The Greek Olive Oil Farmer: Panagiotis Gian of Yapapi [inside my journal]

Panagiotis’ family have been making olive oil on their farm in Kalamata for five generations. But Pan had a dream. Rather than selling to big distributors who paid poorly and diluted his product with low quality oils, he dreamed of creating his own brand and selling directly to customers around the world. 

This is a story of how two Greek brothers, one Frenchman, and 800 olive trees broke the status quo and created their own independent olive oil company: Yapapi.

Tell us about your olive oil farm in Kalamata.

Kalamata is on the Peloponnese peninsula, in the south of mainland Greece. The area is known for producing the best quality olive oil in the country. I don't know why exactly; maybe because of a unique combination of soil and climate. 

My family has a long history with olive trees. We are fifth-generation farmers, and have about 800 olive trees from which we make exceptional quality extra-virgin oil. Some of my earliest memories are playing under the trees as a child. Then when I was 13, I started helping my father with the harvest. We tend the trees all year long and harvest the olives by hand. They are part of our family. 

What made you want to change the way you sold your olive oil?

For years my family have been talking about how little the big distributors pay olive farmers, yet how much they sell it for. These distributors tend to dilute olive oil from the best producers with lower quality oil from other producers. We farmers are paid the lowest possible price, which means we struggle to reinvest in the land, the trees and the region. I wanted to change this. So I asked:

 “Why don't we sell our oil ourselves?”

This question was always met with the same answers: how can we change the way the big distributors work? How will we get on to the shelves of the supermarket? How would we compete?

All these years I was thinking about it. And every time we talked about this topic, I became very angry. I am a person who, if you say I can’t do something, I take it very personally and then put all my efforts into doing it. 

How did you take your dream of creating your own olive oil brand and turn it into a reality?

I work in Athens. My main profession is a photographer & graphic designer. I photograph weddings, events, businesses and products. But mostly, I love taking portraits. In Athens, I’m on all the time. It can be an intense place. Lots of people. Lots of traffic. I am always moving around. 

But coming home to Kalamata for the harvest each year, I realised how relaxing it was. Not relaxing for my body – it’s hard work and very tiring physically – but relaxing for my mind. 

When I was back on the farm, working on the harvest or pruning the trees, my mind was so calm. It became my escape from the everyday mess in Athens. I came back to my roots, got dirty, got tired but my mind got freed. These feelings made me even more determined to find a way to make our farm independent and share our oil directly with the world.

Coincidently, I was doing some photography work for paper republic. They would send me journals, portfolios and other items, and I would photograph them. On a road trip around Europe, I decided to pass through Vienna, and visit the paper republic shop. I went for lunch with Jerome – the founder of paper republic – and I explained my dream to him. 

He said: “Do you want to make your dream come true?”

“Yes of course!” I said. 

“Then let’s make it happen,” he said.

He later came to visit the farm and see the harvest. He explained a lot of things about setting up an online business for a special, handmade product. I was very encouraged, and in November 2023, Yapapi olive oil was born.

How does your journal come into your olive oil business? 

I have one grand voyageur pocket which I carry everywhere, and one in xl size too. For the olive oil business, I have three notebooks where I record lots of different information, for example the quantities of olives we harvested from each grove, how many litres we pressed each year, and also all the dates. I also use my journals for my to do list; there are a lot of steps to go from an olive hanging on the tree, to a tin of olive oil in the hands of a customer.

I also use my paper republic journals for my work as a photographer where I make notes about shoots, and I have a notebook for my music too as I play guitar.

Your bright yellow olive oil canisters are very different from traditional glass bottles of oil. Why did you choose this unusual aesthetic?

We ship our olive oil worldwide, directly to customers, and this meant our containers had to be lightweight. The problem with glass bottles is that they are very heavy. So we knew we wanted a metal rather than glass container for Yapapi oil.

We also wanted to make Yapapi different and stand out from the traditional bottles of olive oil that you see everywhere. So we chose the bright yellow label with a bold, simple typeface and our duck logo (Yapapi means 'for the duck' in Greek. Although we have never seen a duck in our area – we liked the name and it stuck). We were really satisfied with our design; it really stands out on the kitchen shelf.

What makes Yapapi olive oil different from other olive oils we see in the supermarkets?

There are of course many other olive oils you can buy. But with Yapapi you are getting two things you don’t often get with other oils. Firstly, a genuinely exceptional quality, extra-virgin oil, that comes from a single farm and is not diluted with lower grade oils. 

Secondly, you are getting a connection. What I think is becoming more interesting for people these days is the feeling of connection between themselves and the people who make the product they buy.

By following our blog and social channels, our customers can see our trees, experience the harvest and get a taste for the land it comes from, as well as the people – my family – who pick and press each olive.

What advice would you give other people who want to create an independent business from their own family farm?

First, I must say that Yapapi is quite new and I still have a lot of things to learn on this journey. But one thing I have already learned is that you must be authentic with your product.

We are living in an era of fast food, fast fashion and fast media. And we have all seen the negative impact that is having. I think this has led to a yearning for a more meaningful connection between customer and company. It’s no longer just about the product, but about the people behind the product, and their ethos.

So, if you are looking to create a company selling something like olive oil (or leather journals!), it’s important to be honest about how you are making these things, and tell the story of the people behind the products.

And be honest about the imperfections or differences too. For example, products like olive oil should not taste the same every year. Because every year there are slightly different conditions, and this influences the composition of the oil and therefore its taste.

People think that products should always taste the same, but for products that depend on weather conditions, if it tastes the same each year, that’s because it’s being processed in some way. 

We should think of olive oil in the same way we think about wine; different years have different flavour profiles. 

Going back ten years, did you think your dream to make Yapapi a reality would ever come true?

I certainly always dreamed about it. Every time I went to the supermarket, I looked at all the other olive oil on the shelf. I often thought about starting a brand myself, just taking it step by step with not much money. I would sometimes sketch ideas and notes, but then because of being busy at work, or because I had nobody to push me, I would stop.

But I still felt that I could create a better brand than all the olive oils I saw in the shops. I am a graphic designer also, and I was sure I could design better labels and names. I think that deep in my gut, I knew I would do it one day. 

But I didn't expect it would happen when it did, and not with a Frenchman! Now we have all this great interaction and collaborations with people from all over the world. I am very grateful how things turned out. 

What’s next for Yapapi olive oil?

I want to keep growing the business and sharing our oil with the world. When we can sell all the oil we make now, the next step is to buy more olive trees around Kalamata, or even other parts of Greece. 

But we also want to become a revolution in how olive oil is sold; an inspiration to other Greek olive oil farmers. Many of them don't believe in themselves. They think their only option is to sell for a very low price to the big distributors. They don’t believe you can sell your own oil independently. But at Yapapi, we have shown it’s possible to make your own brand and share your oil directly with customers all over the world.

So, my biggest goal, my biggest dream, is for everyone in the world have access to extra virgin olive oil, straight from the farmers. I want to help others do what we have done.

Order a can of Panagiotis' exceptional Yapapi olive oil now