April 20th, 2018

Companies from New Jersey who won sofi awards were the focus of a USA Today article that mentioned Hellenic Farms, winner of a Best New Product award in the vegan category; De Medici Imports, which won a Gold sofi Award for its Dark Cherry Balsamic Vinegar of Modena; and That’s How We Roll, which won a Gold sofi Award in the cracker category.

June 30th-July 2nd, 2018

We will be exhibiting our Hellenic products of excellence at this Summer's Fancy Food Show taking place at the Javits Center, New York City, June 28-30th. Pass by and take a quick trip to the Mediterranean!  BOOTH #776, LEVEL 3.

September 2017

For those looking for a non-meaty snack, Hellenic Farms has launched a new collection of shelf-stable, no-sugar-added vegan fig salamis.

October 13, 2016

Many things have been written about the health benefits of Greek High Phenolic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) recently. For over 3,000 years the health benefits of EVOO have been celebrated and marketed; from the time of the first Olympic games to the most recent clinical studies.

It has long been documented that the superior EVOOs from Greece are routinely purchased at bulk prices and mixed with substandard olive oils from other Mediterranean olive oil producing countries - most notably Italy. When EVOOs were objectively judged by state-of-the-art (NMR) scientific instruments, Greek olive oils beat all the competition. Olive oil quality is no longer just a subjective matter of taste but also a precise scientific method of analysis.

October 19, 2015

 “but olive oil is important — it’s beneficial for cardiovascular health and body weight.” Olive oil, like canola, avocado and nut oils, is monounsaturated, and while it has as many calories as meat and dairy fat, it does not raise serum cholesterol or foster fat-clogging deposits in blood vessels.

“We have to get out of the fat phobia mind-set,” Dr. Hu stressed, adding that we also have to abandon the idea that all complex carbohydrates are good.

April 2015

The sofi Awards are the top honor in the $109 billion specialty food industry.  The awards, now in their 43rdyear, are open to members of the Specialty Food Association. This year members submitted 2,715 entries across 32 awards categories including outstanding chocolate, cheese and savory snack. The entries were judged by a national panel of 36 specialty food experts during eight days of tastings. Judges were from Whole Foods Market, Food52 Shop, Kroger, Fresh Direct, The Fresh Market, Mouth.com, Citarella, Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants, Williams-Sonoma, and Food & Wine, among others.

May 7, 2015

It has been hailed as the secret to a long life and has been shown to prevent heart disease and depression.

Now, researchers have found the Mediterranean diet can protect against memory loss, too.

A study found people who eat a Mediterranean-style diet may be less likely to experience declines in their memory and thinking skills.

The diet consists of plant-based foods such as vegetables, legumes, fruit, nuts, seeds and olives, extra virgin olive oil, fish, with moderate red wine intake.

April 29, 2015

“Greek olive oil quality is trending higher,” said Curtis Cord, NYIOOC president. “What we are seeing now is the rise of Greek olive oil brands to the world stage, a stage on which they rightfully belong.”

January 15, 2015

Experts behind the research say the ancient Greeks saw food as a key to balancing the health of the human body and some physicians even wrote cookery books.

Other ancient physicians focused on the the need to use high quality ingredients in cooking at the right time of year.

Plato is also known to have written about the importance of food on health and Hippocrates said: 'Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.' 

'People at that time did not have access to the processed foods we eat today so using simple ingredients like olive oil and fish sauce to flavour food makes perfect sense.

Bioactivity of Greek Honey Extracts on Breast Cancer (MCF-7), Prostate Cancer (PC-3) and Endometrial Cancer (Ishikawa) Cells: Profile Analysis of Extracts

Historically, honey has been important in Greek culture. The chemical composition and the potential of Greek honey extracts (thyme, pine and fir honey) to influence the estrogenic activity and the cell viability of breast (MCF-7), endometrial (Ishikawa) and prostate (PC-3) cancer cells were investigated. All honeys contained total phenolics, phenolic acids, and hydroxymethylfurfural, the levels being highest in thyme honey.

Sugars and volatile compounds, but not fatty acids, were detected in all honey extracts. Thyme, pine and fir honey showed both antiestrogenic and a weak estrogenic effect at low and high concentration, respectively, in MCF-7 cells. Thyme honey reduced the viability of Ishikawa and PC-3 cells, whereas fir honey stimulated the viability of MCF-7 cells.

In conclusion, Greek honeys are rich in phenolic compounds, they modulate estrogenic activity whereas a thyme honey-enriched diet may prevent cancer related processes in breast, prostate and endometrial cancer cells.

March 4, 2014

We have the Greeks to thank for so much of our modern day society. They paved the way for great philosophical minds to keep pushing us forward intellectually. They gave us the Olympic Games, and a desire to strive for athletic excellence. And, well, then there's democracy. Clearly, we owe a lot of who we are to Greece. We're thankful for all of it, but most of all, we're thankful for the feta.

February 26th, 2014

The FDA claim states that daily consumption of about 2 tablespoons, or 23 grams of olive oil, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. The decision to allow the claim was made after the FDA found sufficient evidence to conclude that monounsaturated fatty acids, naturally present in olive oil, may prevent heart disease.

January 29, 2014

People in countries along the Mediterranean Sea not only have a lower incidence of heart disease, but are also less likely to get cancer than those living in North European and North American countries. This prompted researchers to review recent literature and determine if the wide array of components present in the Mediterranean diet influences the risk of cancer.

January 26, 2014

Olives that are used in substandard oil are typically taken to mills days, weeks or even months after being picked — not “within hours.”

The graphic conflated two dubious practices that can be found in parts of the olive oil industry. Some producers mix olive oil with soybean or other cheap oils, while others mix vegetable oils with beta carotene and chlorophyll to produce fake olive oil; the two practices are not usually combined.

Olive oil bottled in Italy and sold in the United States may be labeled “packed in Italy” or “imported from Italy” — not “produced in Italy” — even if the oil does not come from Italy. (However, the source countries are supposed to be listed on the label.)

A 2010 study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that 69 percent of imported olive oil labeled “extra virgin” did not meet, in an expert taste and smell test, the standard for that label. The study suggested that the substandard samples had been oxidized; had been adulterated with cheaper refined olive oil; or were of poor quality because they were made from damaged or overripe olives, or olives that had been improperly stored or processed — or some combination of these flaws. It did not conclude that 69 percent of olive oil for sale in the United States was doctored.

January 8, 2014

November 14, 2013

5 Olive Oil is featured on Gwyneth Paltrow's annual gift guide!  Check it out on goop.com.

September 5, 2012

Pes and Poulain were joined in the field by Dr. Antonia Trichopoulou of the University of Athens, an expert on the Mediterranean diet. She helped administer surveys, often sitting in village kitchens to ask subjects to reconstruct their childhood eating habits. She noted that the Ikarians’ diet, like that of others around the Mediterranean, was rich in olive oil and vegetables, low in dairy (except goat’s milk) and meat products, and also included moderate amounts of alcohol. It emphasized homegrown potatoes, beans (garbanzo, black-eyed peas and lentils), wild greens and locally produced goat milk and honey.

November 9, 2013

On the agenda from November through December: Parties, parties and, yes, more parties. Before you bring another bottle of wine or bouquet, consider thanking your host with something they'll enjoy well beyond the holiday season. From a glimmering vase and elegant wooden puzzle to gourmet foods, these gifts truly leave their mark.

March 15, 2013

Extra virgin olive oil is the juice of the olive fruit.  Like most unprocessed plant products, it contains a range of health-promoting phytonutrients.  The phytonutrients in olive oil have been shown to decrease the oxidation of LDL (1) (which would lower heart disease risk) and DNA (2) (which would lower cancer risk).  Other phytonutrients in olive oil have been shown to decrease blood levels of glucose and insulin (3); decrease blood pressure (4, 5); decrease blood coagulation (6); and decrease inflammation (7).  This makes extra virgin olive oil very different from seed oils, like soybean, safflower, corn, and canola oil, which have undergone a refining process that destroys phytonutrients. 

April 22, 2013

A group of Greek researchers conducted a review of 22 studies and found that adherence to a Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of stroke, depression, cognitive impairment, and Parkinson disease.

February 26, 2013

Recently, researchers found that consuming a Mediterranean diet heavy in olive oil can help lower some heart risks. Consuming more than four tablespoons a day can significantly lower your risk of having a heart attack, suffering from a stroke or dying of heart disease, according to the recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

February 26, 2013

Pass the olive oil — and keep it coming!

A classic Mediterranean diet high in extra-virgin olive oil, fish, nuts and even wine can slash your risk of a heart attack or stroke by up to a whopping 30 percent, scientists said yesterday.

November 7, 2013

Giustra sees the olive oil industry in a similar place to where the wine industry was 20 years ago. Public acceptance of boutique olive oil and its higher prices are in an early phase. It will be an uphill climb and will require change in industry practices and consumer education. Giustra believes that “we need to embarrass the large companies” that are selling fraudulent oil and need to educate consumers.