Yiannis oils the wheels of success (From Gazette & Herald)

Yiannis oils the wheels of success

YIANNIS Kardamakis, as the name suggests, is from Greece.

A farmer by trade, he moved to Norton almost three years ago from Chania on Crete, but quickly became frustrated at not finding olive oil of as good quality and taste as that he produced at home.

From this irritation, a winning business idea was born.

Yiannis, pictured above, has found rapid success by selling olive oil imported direct from his family's farm to Yorkshire markets.

Lined in symmetric olive tree groves on the family's Kardamakis farm in Chania, olives are ripened to perfection under the Greek sun, creating the purest of oils - a taste you would normally only expect to get while on holiday in the Mediterranean.

But not any more. In November last year, after returning from a trip home loaded with barrels of extra virgin olive oil from the farm, Yiannis began selling carefully packaged and labelled bottles at local farmer's markets.

A demand for the authentic product blossomed and when Yiannis was made redundant from his car cleaning job in March, he took the plunge to continue the business full time.

A market quickly grew for other Greek products including olives, traditional Greek herbs, olive oil soap and, most recently introduced to the business, honey. Yiannis is now trading on average four-times-a-week at farmers' markets in Malton, Pickering, Murton, Wykeham, Guisborough, Leeds and Pudsey,

He is assisted in the business, Family Kardamakis, by girlfriend Sandra Carlisle, who fell for Yiannis while working at an English tourist office in Crete, "Shirley Valentine-style" as she describes it.

"He was working at a restaurant (his summer job away from the farm) and I met him there," she said.

It was this romance that brought Yiannis to England.

"After living in the UK for several years and failing to find an oil which equalled the taste and quality of my family's, I decided it was time to bring my oil here and share it with people here," Yiannis told the Gazette & Herald.

His family have farmed olive trees for 150 years in Chania, which produces some of the best olive oil in Crete because of the fertile soil and perfect climate.

The olives are picked at exactly the right time between October and January each year and pressed into extra virgin olive oil at a local factory.

Yiannis also offers a free delivery service in the Malton area and orders can be placed by calling (01653) 600537.

Updated: 15:05 Wednesday, October 05, 2005