Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Boutsikakis.
Alex, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Village Batch was established in 2012 by myself and my two brothers, Anthony and Peter. We were born and raised in Chicago to a family who owned and operated a grocery store in Riverside, Illinois. The grocery and food industry was a constant part of our lives and like many Greek-Americans, we spent our summers in Greece. In our adulthood, we realized that we had an opportunity to connect the amazing foods of our family’s homeland in Greece to our homeland here in Chicago. Our products are all sourced from small-scale farms in our family’s region in Greece: Arcadia, on the east coast of the Peloponnese. Our product line consists of all the tastes of the Greek village because if there is one thing the Greeks do well, its exceptionally tasty and wholesome food.
The economic downturn of our family’s country had such a profound effect on Greece that we sought to turn a negative into an opportunity, beginning with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Greece has amazing old growth olives along with age-old traditions of maintaining and harvesting the crops to press exceptional Olive Oil. We aim to take the respect and understanding of this age-old tradition and work diligently to modernize and mobilize, in order to bring you a truly unique organic olive oil. It’s here where the journey begins, as we continue to learn and educate in the sphere of olive oil, we are always looking to expand and bring more exceptional foods that are honest, raw, and natural.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being raised in the grocery industry has been a great advantage to our success and our distribution in Chicagoland, but in the Greek villages, being born American, we are sometimes viewed as an ‘outsider’.
We were heavily motivated to educate ourselves about everything pertaining to olive oil production. We attended extensive seminars and classes to gain expert level knowledge on what makes an exceptional oil. We learned of modern and scientific methods to make the highest quality olive oil and realized very quickly that the “old school” Greek farmers from our village weren’t yet up to par. We took it upon ourselves to further educate our farmers … but that process wasn’t the easiest thing to achieve. Why would they change the way they’ve been harvesting and pressing olives for generations upon generations, techniques they learned from their grandfather’s before them? After all, Greeks are the true olive oil experts and notoriously stubborn by nature!
We were able to successfully convince many of our village farmers to adapt to progressive changes while also holding onto many of their traditional practices. We were rewarded for these efforts by winning a ‘Best-in-Class’ gold award at the 2016 Los Angeles Olive Oil competition for the delicate class and also was the top rated oil out of Greece.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Village Batch – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to bring the tastes of our famiy’s village into the homes of Chicagoans as our product line continues to grow. We aim to highlight all the tastes and foods of the village.
The oil we are most proud of is pressed from a single farm and only one type of olive, our local Manaki olive. The Manaki olive produces a delicate body olive oil yet is full of flavor. We harvest the olives early in the season when the fruit hasn’t yet ripened, producing the freshest and non-oxidized extra virgin olive oil. The family-farm only harvests a small amount of this early-season oil, and it’s therefore limited to small batches in our market.
Our next tier of oil is a blend of the delicate Manaki olive and the more robust Koroneiki olive, also native to our region in Arcadia. These two local olives create a medium bodied olive oil, that is very well balanced and fit for all uses and pairings. This oil comes from a cooperative of farmers in our greater region of Greece that each subscribe to similar standards for high quality organic olive oil production.
We also provide a raw organic unfiltered and unpastuerized honey that is hand collected from apiaries along the slopes of Mount Mainalon, overlooking our village. This honey is aromatic with notes of mountain tea, sage, chamomile, and mint, which all grow wild along these mountains. The bees never go near commercial agriculture and therefore their honey has consistently tested organic and completely free of trace chemicals. The honey is collected in a non-invasive way, leaving us with happy, healthy bees producing great quality honey.
Our balsamic vinegar is inspired by a recipe used by our aunts in the village, which also traces back to the ancient Minoan Civilization of Greece. It is a blend of balsamic vinegar and our organic wildflower honey. This unique pairing takes out the bite and adds a sweetness to the vinegar for an extremely well balanced and versatile flavor.
Alas, we offer two types of native table olives: the Kalamon olives which are the famous Greek dark purple olive brined with red wine vinegar and sea salt, and the Plum olives which are a green, crisp olive brined in the flavors of the village; rosemary, mild peppers, bay leaf, lemon, and sea salt.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Unfortunately, the olive oil industry has been saturated by low-quality oil in the years past and the present. Fortunately, we have witnessed the public becoming more aware of the poor quality oils offered on the shelf and an overwhelming movement towards healthier eating. This is to our advantage as we have made much effort to ensure we are bringing the best quality oil to the table and we want a consumer who cares about what is on their table. We see the future of olive oil in America comparable to the present day market of wine.
The early wine industry in America was saturated with poor quality wines. Not many people knew or cared about varietals of grapes, it was simply red wine or white wine. Now, there is an endless emphasis on the different grape varietals, People are aware of the type of grape they’re drinking and even at which farms these grapes were grown on, what time of year they are harvested, how old the vines are, etc. The consumer cares about the winemaking process and people frequent vineyards for wine tastings.
We see this as a good model for the olive oil industry. Just like wine, different olive types give off different flavor profiles and pair better with different flavors. Village Batch specializes in the Manaki and Koreneki olive from our region in Greece and looks forward to the day people can recognize all olive varietals. One of our long-term goals is to bring to market an assortment of early-season harvested mono-varietal olive oils and aid in educating the consumer on the unique flavor profiles of each olive fruit.
Pricing:
- Early-Season Harvest Organic Manaki Extra Virgin Olive Oil — $16
- Organic Manaki and Koroneiki Extra Virgin Olive Oil — $10
- Raw Organic Wildflower Honey — $8
- Balsamic Vinegar with Raw Organic Wildflower Honey — $6
- Whole Kalamon Olives Marinated — $5
- Cracked Plum Olives Marinated — $5
Contact Info:
- Website: www.VillageBatch.com
- Email: info@villagebatch.com
- Facebook: Facebook.com/villagebatch
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