Their family has been producing olive oil for 8 generations in the south of Greece, in a little village called Neochori-Ithomi, in the Kalamata region. In 2010, Chantzios brothers decided to take on the family olive exploitation to create Kalios, the Chefs’ olive oil.
After the harvest, the two brothers drove through Paris on their motorbikes, organizing spontaneous tastings in restaurants, making the greatest chefs sample their olives and extra virgin olive oil. Two months later, thirty 5-litre cans, eighteen jars of olive paste and twelve 2-kilo jars of olives had been sold: the Kalios success story was about to begin.
At Kalios, producing excellent quality olives and olive oil is the brand’s first and main task, the second being sourcing the best of the Greek local products.
Respecting the Greek tradition, the fruits are hand-picked from November to January. Each of the brand’s 4 oils is represented by a great Chef who uses the products daily in their kitchen: Juan Arbelaez for the Bio organic vintage, Christophe Aribert for the vintage #01, Eric Guerin for the vintage #02 and Amandine Chaignot for the vintage #03.
The brand also developed a delicatessen section selecting the best products from small local artisans who are involved at each step of the process.
Today, Kalios is the premium Greek food brand that has become the secret weapon in the hands of over 1000 chefs including Pierre Gagnaire (***) and Nicolas Sale (**), is sold in the most notorious delicatessen in Paris (La Grande épicerie de Paris, Galeries Lafayette Gourmet, Maison Plisson, Causses, to name just a few), and has become an essential brand in the Greek grocery industry.
Among its delicious products, the nuts line, comprising of pistachios, almonds, cashews, mixed nuts, but also a brand new nuts line, launched this summer, for the HORECA channel: Aegina nuts with pink pepper, roasted and smoked almonds, cashews with Greek black truffle chips and black pepper etc.