As an Italian women, I include extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in basically every meal. Whether it be frying my homemade meatballs, making an EVOO based dip for our Italian bread or even mixing our homemade salad dressing. But did you know that it is actually super important to use ORGANIC EVOO?
Today, I am going to chat with y’all about a family owned, Greek extra virgin olive oil company called Kasandrinos. (Which is rather timely since I am currently in Athens, Greece!!)
WHY COOK WITH EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL?
Typically, I cook with either extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil. Extra virgin olive oil contains large amounts of antioxidants including vitamins E & K. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, protects against heart disease and contains anti-bacterial properties.
It is important to note that there is a difference between olive oil and extra virgin olive oil. EVOO has the beneficial antioxidants and bioactive compounds.
WHY I CHOOSE KASANDRINOS ORGANIC OLIVE OIL
Unfortunately, many of the extra virgin olive oils made in the US are diluted with other oils such as soybean or rapeseed. So even though the label says 100% pure olive oil, it can also be tapped with other unhealthy oils. (More on that here).
Not Kasandrinos.
Why do I choose Kasandrinos over other brands?
For starters, their olives are hand picked from century old GMO free trees. All of the olives used in their oil are sustainably sourced from their olive orchards in Laconia, Greece and are pressed within 48 hours of harvest. THEY ONLY sell the current years harvest of olive oil as opposed to most store bought olive oil which is often 1-2 years old. The fresher the olive oil the better.
If you didn’t know, heat actually damages olive oil. That is why Kasandrinos uses the cold press method so the the olives never reach a temperature of over 86 degrees.
Another little known fact is that the olive oil industry is not heavily regulated. This is why it is SO important for companies like Kasandrinos to be as transparent as possible, like I mentioned above there is alot of fraud in the EVOO and olive oil industry. Kasandrinos has been certified organic by biohellas and the USDA and have a PGI certification (source of the olives). They also perform a third party chemical analysis on every batch of olive oil and post the results to Kasandrinos.com.
ABOUT KASANDRINOS FAMILY
Kasandrinos was formed by Tony Kasandrinos and his sister, Effi, in 2011. It started when Tony shared some of his family’s olive oil with some friends at his local crossfit gym. Over time, word built up with all the foodies and everyone was asking for their own bottle to take home.
In three short years, the company was shipping on a national level and shortly thereafter they started shipping globally and bringing Kasandrinos to families all over the world.
Since then company has grown exponentially and they have brought in their cousin Efrosyni and younger brother Thanasi. Talk about a family business!
And I should also mention, Tony is an active duty Marine, with 19 years of service. Thank you for serving our country Tony!
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
Kasandrinos is a high quality, pure olive oil. You can find it here. AND if you use the code KOMBUCHA you will save an additional 10% off. Check it out and let me know what you guys think!
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** Disclosure: I only recommend the products that I actually test and utilize on a daily basis. With that being said,I do receive a small commission from Kasandrinos when you purchase from my link. This money is going right back into BYOK to help pay for the costs of the website. BYOK is independently owned and the opinions expressed here are my own.
