Lots of Lesvos

15/11/2021

The olive harvesting season starts on Lesvos!

We have been busy the last months, working closely with our retailers to sell our Lots of Lesvos olive oil. All stock has now been sold via Picnic, as well as Amsterdam-based retailer Willicroft Store. We even connected with a new Amsterdam partner, Madre Amsterdam.

As we wrap up our 2021 season, we prepare for 2022! Our incredible farmers on Lesvos are busy harvesting new olives for our next batch of oil. It’s been a good season, with a beautiful harvest of olives ready to be transformed into extra-virgin, liquid goodness!

Alongside the harvest, our team on Lesvos have been developing a new land management course. This course will provide refugees on the island with an opportunity to learn about and develop their agricultural skills from our well experienced and passionate farmers.

More soon on how you can get your hands on our new batch…

12/08/2021

MEET Picnic, ONE OF OUR NEW RETAIL PARTNERS!

We believe our oil is more than just a delicious topping for your favourite meals, its a delicacy with a powerful story and an important cause. That's why a key element of the Lots of Lesvos mission and vision is to reach and delight as many people as possible with our olive oil, made with the heart and soul of Lesvos. And Picnic is helping us achieve this.

With a like-minded view on how they see the world, Picnic is supporting Lots of Lesvos by selling our oil through their app. So if you're looking to contributing to a for-impact food brand, and love getting your groceries delivered to your doorstep, check out the Picnic app for details.

10/08/2021

MEET THE MAN BEHIND OUR OLIVE OIL!

"I know the difficulties faced by people on the move and I want to support these people by giving them greater opportunity to prosper."

Vagelli Voyiatzis is the owner of multiple olive farms situated in the mountainous areas of Lesvos. Across these farms, over 2,000 olive trees grow amongst wild herbs and medicinal plants. Here, all of the olives are harvested by hand.

"For me, Lots of Lesvos is important as it represents the collaboration and strengthening of communities on the island," explains Vaggeli.

To learn more about Vaggeli's story, head to our website: https://lotsoflesvos.org/blogs/news/the-story-of-vagelli

09/08/2021

DOING GOOD NEVER TASTED BETTER!

Over the past couple of months, we have been pretty quiet on the social media front. That's because we have been busy preparing for the re-launch of Lots of Lesvos in the Netherlands! Now an official social enterprise operated by Movement On The Ground, Lots of Lesvos offers the finest extra-virgin olive oil, helping to generate economic prosperity for local farmers whilst enabling opportunity, positive connections and prospects for refugees on Lesvos.

We have a new look, a new website and have partnered with some new retailers to help delight as many customers across the country. But our mission remains the same, economically support small scale farmers, enable the growth and development of people with a refugee-background and build bridges between diverse communities on Lesvos.

Doing good never tasted better! Check out our website for more details and how you can get your hands on a bottle of Lots of Lesvos olive oil: http://lotsoflesvos.org/

13/06/2021

Come and taste our delicious delicacies made with the heart and soul of Lesvos!

We are here outside of the Willicroft store in Amsterdam offering samples of our olive oil, salt and herbs in the lead up to the arrival of our new stock. Feel free to drop by, have a taste and learn more about the mission behind the Lots of Lesvos social enterprise.

Keep your eyes peeled on our social media over the next week for the announcement of how you can get your hands on our new bottles of oil from the Voyiatzis family farm. Remember, for every bottle sold, we will be able to channel profits back into Movement On The Ground's refugee-centred projects on Lesvos.

08/12/2020

At Lots of Lesvos, we believe in giving back to the communities we work with, be it on Lesvos or here in the Netherlands!

Over the last few weeks, our team have donated more than 100 pieces of our products to the Amsterdam's 'Voedselbank at Osdorp'. This contribution will mean men, women and children in need of a little extra help can delight in our delicacies.

Doing good never tasted better!

25/11/2020

Kalispera to our loyal followers.

We know it's been a while since we were last in touch, but don't worry we haven't forgotten about you! We have just been super busy and working really hard to take over the Lots of Lesvos enterprise.

Behind the scenes we have been working on our new business model, meeting with local olive oil farmers on Lesvos and getting creative about how our products can help to support the projects of Movement On The Ground!

We have more exciting news and events coming up so stay tuned!

06/08/2020

Dear Lots of Lesvos friends,

You haven’t heard from us in a long while. We have had a very challenging year. Firstly, we had a problem with the shipment of our packages. And then Covid-19 turned the world upside down, impacting our sales. Fortunately, thanks to your help and support, we were able to make some impact and we’re still here!

At this moment it's not possible for us to continue, so we made the decision to transfer Lots of Lesvos to Movement On The Ground. The Dutch-founded organisation has a fixed presence on the islands of Lesvos, working to improve the livelihood of refugees and supporting the local Greek community. We are very happy with this and confident they will take Lots of Lesvos to the next level and create greater impact.

In the meantime, we are very proud of what we have achieved: a sustainable entrepreneurial model that supports both locals and newcomers on Le**os. Thank you for making this possible with us. We hope you continue to support Lots of Lesvos as faithfully in the future as you’ve done so far!

A very special thanks to our partners: ...,staat, Stichting DOEN, The Present Movement and Mosaik Support Center

Lots of love,

Aranka and the rest of the team.

Photos: Michiel Stock Photography

01/01/2020

2019 was a year of growth, a year in which we were able to order 6500 gift packages and sell them to make a change in the lives of locals and newcomers on Lesvos. Thanks to everyone who supported us during the crowdfunding; who bought our gift packages; donated or sponsored us (big shout out to Stichting DOEN!) 🙏
And off course thanks to our great team of mainly volunteers. Thijs Andres Van Bemmel, who made the crowdfunding a success, sales tiger Ly Tran, Jasmijn Andringa for always being a sparring partner, Nard Haverkort for solving all the problems/’challenges’ this year, team Nard at the Bilderdijk office (you guys rule!), Ben Steenstra and Marcel de Groot for being there when we needed it most, Michiel Stock for your creative images and being the best cheerleader ever, Ivo van Hoeve and Laurie Lancee for being great with business finance, Marnix Geus for always sharing knowledge and connections, Arnold Cazander for your wise advise, Frank Buurman for the state of the art videos, Roel ter Voort for storyline and graphics (also this one!). Wassili Zafiris, , Fiona Harmsen for keeping everyone sharp.
2019 was also a year of big challenges, that we’re still overcoming. So let’s make 2020 a year of grow and flow! And remember what we do this for, cause in the end that's the only thing that counts! ❤️

12/12/2019

Een van onze grote supporters dit jaar was Stichting DOEN! Mede dankzij hen konden we een nieuwe batch producten aankopen, waarmee we meer impact kunnen maken op Lesvos. Dank je wel voor jullie vertrouwen, expertise, enthousiasme en goede adviezen! 🙏✨❤️
WINACTIE
Wil jij een van onze Lots of Lesvos kerstpakketten aan iemand schenken? Lees hieronder hoe. 🎁👇🏼

11/12/2019