Avocados from Greece

When Apostolis Mylonakis returned to his village in western Crete in 2011, people thought he was crazy. A mechanical engineer who had worked for many years in the Czech Republic and Berlin gives up his job to farm the land of his parents and grandparents? Organically, no less. At a time when nobody in the region cared about organic farming. 

"My answer back then was: Why is that crazy? We are responsible for the health of our children and the people who live here. That takes priority," says Apostolis. "When I came back to Greece after all those years, I also told myself: This is my playground. It is the place where my heart beats stronger. The office job was really nice – but I love this more."  

Today 116 farming families work in the network that has grown around Apostolis – besides avocados they also grow citrus fruits and olives. From November 2026 we will source our avocados exclusively from these producers. Because in Kenya it is no longer possible: due to the situation in the Red Sea we have not been able to ship the avocados for years and have since relied on air freight. That alone is problematic enough for us.  

Added to that is the new EU organic regulation for food produced outside the EU. It prompted our partner in Kenya to build a large plantation of his own instead of working with many small farming families. That no longer fits gebana. Therefore we are now fully focusing on Crete. 

A place made for avocados 

The fields on Crete are located about 12 kilometres from the sea above the city of Chania on the foothills of the White Mountains, the Lefka Ori. They reach up to 2,458 metres and are often snow-covered until May. Their meltwater feeds streams that in part flow directly past the fields.  

These are fields that cannot be compared to the monocultures in other regions of southern Europe. "You never just see avocados," says Apostolis. "In between grow orange trees, olive trees, here and there a small garden for the family. All of that together creates something alive." 

Where does the water come from? 

As nice as that sounds, the avocado is criticized for its water consumption; we ourselves have addressed this issue repeatedly in the past. And this criticism is justified. Especially when it is grown in dry regions like southern Spain, Chile or Peru.  

In western Crete things are different: in winter there is a lot of precipitation and the meltwater from the mountains generally provides enough water. The crucial point is how one deals with it: without exception all farming families in Apostolis’s network use drip irrigation, which they only employ in the dry summer months. Sprinklers are completely forbidden.  

Apostolis himself goes even further as a pioneer and shows the other producers how little water is really necessary. He waters only about 45 minutes per week, which corresponds to roughly 24 litres per tree. Apostolis also leaves the grass he regularly cuts between the trees as mulch and has sown legumes around the trees. Both cover the surfaces and retain moisture in the soil.  

Additionally, he prunes the crowns of his trees so that the branches reach almost to the ground and form a kind of tent. Within these "tents" a microclimate with lower temperatures and more humidity develops. "I prove to everyone that it works," he says, "because I harvest every year." More and more producers are therefore following his example, he says. 

A rainwater reservoir should provide more independence 

Apostolis does not really see the actual water problem on the fields, but in tourism. Water from the villages is diverted to the coast, to hotels with pools and lawns; the state invests in tourism infrastructure but hardly in agriculture, he criticises. In 2025 the public water supply, according to Apostolis, temporarily failed completely.  

Instead of waiting for politics, Apostolis is therefore planning a rainwater reservoir of around 15,000 cubic metres – enough for four seasons, if necessary also as a drinking water reserve for the village. "That will cost about €100,000. For an investor that may be nothing, for us it is a lot. If we find a sponsor, I will give up 0.3 hectares of my land for the reservoir – free of charge." 

Not everyone is convinced of the reservoir idea. Some farming families even consider the project unnecessary – "there has always been water in Crete," they say. That is naive and short-sighted, says Apostolis. "We need the reservoir, and urgently." 

Quality control is a family affair 

Despite this disagreement, the careful, nature-oriented way of working of the farming families around Apostolis Mylonakis seems to be paying off. In 2025 they set the European record for dry matter in avocados with their fruits. 38.9 percent was measured.  

Dry matter is an indicator of the quality and ripeness of a fruit. Depending on the variety, the EU requires a minimum value between 19 and 21 percent for avocados to be sold.  

For anyone who cannot make sense of dry matter, we have another indicator: the first fruits we sent from Crete to our customers in 2025 had a complaint rate of 0.42 percent. That is one of the lowest values in our entire range.  

Maybe it was luck. Apostolis sees it more as a confirmation of his philosophy: "We test the fruits at home with our children. If they taste good to us, we send them on. If not, I send nothing – even if someone insists." 

Is the gebana premium too good to be true? 

The collaboration with Apostolis and the farming families in his network runs through our long-standing partner Anyfion, who also supplies us with citrus fruits from the Peloponnese. We have worked closely together for over ten years and hold a 20 percent stake in the company.  

Because of this connection we have already integrated the producers on Crete into the gebana model. At the end of June 2026 they received the gebana premium for the first time: 10 percent of the sale price from our online shop in addition to the already paid organic prices.  

At the information event on the occasion of the premium payment we encountered many surprised faces. "The money is already in their account – and they still cannot believe it," says Apostolis.  

For us this reaction is not new. No matter in which country we have introduced the gebana model and the gebana premium so far, we were always met with disbelief at first. And that is quite understandable. Because how often does it happen in trade that a company pays more than it has to? Practically never.  

While the farming families digest their new reality, we are already looking forward to the next harvest. The first avocados from Crete will arrive with us in November. You can pre-order them now.