Where: Lesvos (Mytilene, Lesbos), Greece
Hectares: 50
Olive trees: 7,500
Primary cultivars: Kolovi and Adramytini
Single or multiple orchards: Single
Near the Village of Pigi on the island of Lesvos is the Kouppas orchard.
The orchard is 50 hectares consisting of appoximately 7,500 olive trees of the Kolovi and Adramytini varieties, two varieties indigenous to the region.
The orchard is principally owned by previous married couple Aliki Mitsou and Prokopis Bantzis.
The farm entered the family in 1893, during the Ottoman period, when Aliki’s great grandfather and three of his brothers purchased the land from an Ottoman man. The brother’s names were: Stilianos (Aliki’s great grandfather), Axilleas, Georgios, and Grigorios. The brothers’ last name was Kouppas, which the orchard is named after today.
Bantzis’ own family originates from the İzmir, Türkiye region. His family arrived in Greece during the population exhange period between the two nations.
The family practices biodynamic farming, using no sprays, not even organic ones. The family uses more natural methods to maintain the quality of the crop. For instance, Bantzis cited that hunting on the property is prohibited to maintain adequate flocks of birds which are predators to flies.
It was mentioned that this year’s harvest yield (Season 2025/26) is substantially lower than last year, a trend consistent amongst other farmers on the island. The reasons cited for the lower yield on the orchard were that the Adramytini variety is known to produce a high yield and then a low yield, rotating each year (last year was noted as a high production yield), and that there was lower levels of rainfall on the island this year.
Kouppas orchard privately harvests at nearby oil mill Tzortzis in Komi. They sell privately, mostly exporting to Germany.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.