ANOSKELI Agricultural Company ABEE (ANOSKELI A.C.) takes its name from the village of Anoskeli in the municipality of Kissamos, Chania, the birthplace of its founders, the Mamidakis family, a family of entrepreneurs active in various commercial sectors including petroleum trade, hotel and shipping. Anoskeli is a small rural village sitting on an altitude of 250m, covered by olive groves, vineyards, lemon trees and orange trees. In that small village of Anoskeli, the 7 Mamidakis siblings were born, at a time of scarce resources and dim prospects for the future. Defying all obstacles they managed to educate themselves and move to Athens in order to build a new life from scratch. During the 60 s, under the leadership of the older brothers Kyriakos, Georgios and Nikolaos, the family became actively involved in the petroleum sector and gradually founded one of the largest petroleum companies in Greece. Despite increasing success in all their various entrepreneurial activities, the family remained true to its place of origin and to its
traditions. Olive oil production had been one of their main activities of the family growing up, and in 1983 ANOSKELI A.C. was founded while in 1988 Anoskeli s old olive factory was bought and reconstructed for private use. At that time, olive oil production was undertaken as a continuation of the family tradition and as a hobby in order to cover the needs of family and friends. Gradually various local farmers started to bring in their olives for elision. As time went on production volumes increased and the reputation of Anoskeli s extra virgin olive oil grew in popularity. In 2004 ANOSKELI A.C. decided to proceed with a second reconstruction of the olive oil plant and to purchase its first bottling machine. With time, the family also expanded its agricultural activities to the production of Cretan wine by cultivating organic vineyards found scattered around the village of Anoskeli. Thus, in 2009 the winery plant was built, a further reconstruction of the olive oil plant was concluded as well as an extension to house a modern bottling line and new machinery was acquired. Anoskeli being exclusively a residential village, it was the family s ambition to build a space that could welcome guests. As such, the Wine Tasting room serves not only as a welcoming space to greet guests who wish to taste the Company s. products but can also host art and photography exhibitions as well as other social events thereby bringing life to the village. Accordingly ANOSKELI A.C. has managed to construct a technologically advanced olive oil factory and a modern boutique winery and to trade its products in Greek and international markets thus honoring and promoting the family s birthplace.
Anoskeli A.C. produces, packages and trades extra virgin olive oil, as well as organic extra virgin olive oil, both of which have a Kolymvari Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) indication, one of the most awarded areas in Greece. Τhe olives are harvested when perfectly ripe, cold-pressed in a modern two-phase mill and stored under ideal conditions thus preserving the nutritional characteristics of the olive juice. The end-product is 100% natural, healthy and tasty olive oil from the village of Anoskeli with the blessing of the Greek sun and the wonderful Cretan nature. Nowadays, olive oil production amounts to an average of 600 tons per year with a capacity to increase volumes up to 1.000 tons. The Company fully controls the entire process from harvesting of the olives to elision, from processing of the paste to filtering as well as bottling and packaging processes. The Company holds an ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certification. In March 2013 the ANOSKELI Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil received, for a second consecutive year, a Silver Medal at the 18th International BIOL competition in Citta di Andria in Italy. In April 2013 the ANOSKELI Extra Virgin Olive Oil received a Silver Medal distinction at the International New York Olive Oil competition. In May 2015 the ANOSKELI extravirgin organic olive oil was awarded the Silver Medal in the 2015 BIOL International Prize for the Best Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oils held in Bari Italy I
As far as wine production is concerned, ANOSKELI A.C. produces, bottles and trades high quality wines under the trade name ANO PLAYA (dry white, dry red and dry roze) of Greek (vidiano, vilana & asirtiko) and French (Syrah, Grenanche Rouge & Cabernet Sauvignon) varieties. The Company constantly experiments with new flavors in an effort to unravel the numerous possibilities offered by the Cretan soil of Anoskeli and its surrounding areas. For example in 2013, ANOSKELI produced a limited edition single variety (Syrah) red wine under the trade name ANOFERIA. ANOSKELI A.C. s latest project has been the circulation of premium bottled Raki or tsikoudia, as Cretans call it, under the trade name ANO KATO. Raki or tsikoudia is a traditional Cretan alcoholic drink produced by single distillation of the wine-must. Tsikoudia traditionally circulates unbottled, in bulk and is consumed as an everyday aperitif accompanying Cretan specialties. ANOSKELI A.C. is now offering high quality tsikoudia in premium packaging which can be offered as a luxury gift.
. Despite the increase in production volumes and the growth in the business activity, ANOSKELI A.C. remains family-centered with a focus on excellent quality, traditional values and support of the local society.