Gold Amvrosia

Gold Ambrosia

The home of Gold Amvrosia is Achaia, in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Today, the family business no longer produces only special Greek honeys: it also grows olives in its own Achaian olive groves, from which its premium extra virgin olive oil is made.

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  Greece

The Gold Amvrosia – or "Chrysi Amvrosia" in Greek, meaning "Golden Ambrosia" – began its story in 2013 with just two beehives.

Its founder, Thanasas Velaitis Vasilios, was only 13 years old when he received his first two bee colonies as a gift, which he placed in his family’s garden. What started as simple curiosity soon turned into a passion: he learned more and more about beekeeping, attended training sessions and professional lectures, and within a few years, the hobby had grown into a true profession.

The business is based in Achaia, in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese, with its headquarters in Patras. Today, Gold Amvrosia does not only produce special Greek honeys: it also cultivates olives in its own Achaian olive groves, from which it produces premium extra virgin olive oil.

While the two product lines might seem distant at first, they are actually built on the same philosophy: respect for the natural environment, minimal intervention, and ensuring the final product preserves the natural character of its origin.

Migratory beekeeping – honeys from different regions of Greece

Gold Amvrosia's honeys do not come from a single estate. The bee colonies are moved to different regions of Greece according to the seasons and flowering periods, whenever possible far from intensive agricultural areas, near wild forests, medicinal herbs, and aromatic plants.

In spring and summer, the hives follow the various blooms and honeydew sources, while in winter, they are moved from the mountainous areas to more protected, milder climates. The beekeeper also ensures that enough of the honey supply remains for the colonies to survive the winter.

This is also the reason for Gold Amvrosia's unusually diverse selection. They produce, among others, pine, wild oak, strawberry tree, thyme, and savory honey, as well as quite rare Greek mountain specialties.

Their honeys derived from silver fir are particularly interesting. For example, their famous pine-vanilla honeyis collected from the Greek silver firs of the Chelmos (Aroania) mountains rising in the Achaia region. Another specialty comes from the highest mountain of Kefalonia, Ainos National Park, where the bees work in the forests of the native Abies cephalonicaGreek silver fir.

Achaean olive groves and Koroneiki olives

Another key product of Gold Amvrosia is premium extra virgin olive oil made from olives grown in their own Achaean olive groves. According to the producer's presentation, the base of the oil is primarily provided by the famous Koroneiki variety, as well as local Achaean olive varieties.

Koroneiki is one of Greece's most important olive varieties: it has small fruit, but its oil is concentrated, aromatic, and known for its naturally high polyphenol content. Gold Amvrosia's goal is to create a balanced oil with a fruity character that preserves the natural freshness of the olive.

In cultivating the groves, they avoid intensive pesticide use and, instead of chemical fertilizers, use natural organic fertilizer to replenish soil nutrients. During cultivation, they specifically strive to maintain the natural balance of the soil, the olive trees, and the local microclimate.

After the harvest, the olives are quickly transported to the processing facility and cold-pressedto best preserve their natural aromas and valuable components. The finished oil is filtered and then stored in stainless steel tanks in cool, light-protected conditions, thus protecting it from oxidation. The producer keeps the entire process under their own control, from the olive grove all the way to bottling.

The result is a fruity, harmonious extra virgin olive oilwith a slight bitterness and a pleasantly spicy finish. Because of its fresh character, it works particularly well raw – drizzled over salads, grilled vegetables, cheeses, bread, or used to finish prepared Mediterranean dishes – but, of course, it is also excellent for everyday cooking.

The quality is also verified by accredited laboratory tests. The test included in the presentation showed an acidity of approximately 0.4%; the low peroxide value and other test results also attest to the careful processing and storage.

Minimal intervention

Whether it is honey or olive oil, one of the cornerstones of Gold Amvrosia's approach is processing natural raw materials with as little intervention as possible.

The character of the honey is determined primarily by its origin. Wild oak honey, for example, is extremely dark, thick, less sweet, and has caramel and woody notes; pine honey also features woody and caramel aromas, while strawberry tree honey has a characteristically sweet-bitter flavor with subtle notes of bitter almond. In contrast, Kefalonian honey from the flowers of thyme and savory displays an intensely aromatic, herbal profile.

For olive oil, this same philosophy is represented by nature-friendly cultivation, careful harvesting, rapid processing, and cold extraction.

Award-winning Greek honeys

The work of the small apiary has also gained international attention. At the Mediterranean Taste Awardscompetition, they won a total of four accolades in 2021 and 2022. Their pine honey received Gold, the pine-flower honey received a Silver award, and then in 2022, the wild oak honey won Gold, and the special strawberry tree honey was awarded Platinumstatus.

These accolades clearly show the diversity that Gold Amvrosia builds upon: theirs is not a story of a single "flagship" product, but of the flavors of Greece's different landscapes and plant communities.

A young Greek producer with old Mediterranean traditions

Perhaps this is the most appealing part of the Gold Amvrosia story. They don't try to tell the romantic tale of a multi-generational family business: it started from the two hives of a 13-year-old boy, driven by learning, curiosity, and an interest in nature.

Today, the Achaean olive groves and the production of extra virgin olive oil have joined the apiary, but the original idea has not changed much: good raw materials require a good habitat above all else, and that must be allowed to shine through.

Thus, the products of Gold Amvrosiashow a piece of Greece: the olive groves and mountains of Achaia, the pine forests of Kefalonia, wild oak forests, Mediterranean herbs, and flowers – flavors that are truly backed by the landscape from which they originate.

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