Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), also known as solidarity farming or teikei [tƐi'kƐi:] in Japanese, is an innovative economic model based on close cooperation between consumers and farmers. This does not only involve consumers pre-financing the farm, but above all a collective commitment to purchase the harvest.

The special thing about this form of farming is that the consumer community guarantees the farmer that they will buy his products before the harvest. This means that anyone can take part in solidarity farming by, for example, ordering half a litre of olive oil for the coming harvest and guaranteeing to pay this price for it.

This reliable purchase commitment allows farmers to plan better and not be at the mercy of market fluctuations. The model not only promotes the financial stability of the business, but also creates a direct, trusting relationship between producers and consumers.

Solidarity farming enables us to achieve great things together by sharing responsibility and supporting each other. When we unite in this way, we help promote sustainable and fair food production while strengthening the local economy.

Normally, a CSA works as a regional farm for daily food. We aim to expand this to other areas, worldwide. TEIKEI Olive is a project that aims to bring olive farmers, logisticians and consumers into a relationship of solidarity on an equal footing. In this way, an olive oil economy can be created that does justice to people and nature. The cornerstones of this economy are fair wages, direct routes without unnecessary intermediate steps, environmentally friendly processes and the closest possible exchange.

TEIKEI olive is building a community. The principles of solidarity agriculture serve as a guiding principle. This community includes farmers in the Peloponnese, Greece, logisticians from our partners and the consumers who enjoy the olive oil. As part of the community, you not only enjoy high-quality olive oil. With your membership, you ensure the financial stability of everyone involved and stand up for a sustainable olive oil industry. You support new ways of environmentally friendly cultivation and new (old) shores of transport, even by sailing ship. You can find out how to become part of this community here.

In order to maintain a trusting dialogue, we have deliberately decided not to have the TEIKEI coordination office certified organic, while our farms still work according to organic and ecological standards (certificates are available upon request).

Honest and sustainable food does not always need a certificate. At the same time, there are so many opportunities for greenwashing. Natural food is healthy for people and the environment - with or without a seal!

Our products are selected according to holistic criteria and thorough research is carried out before the products are added. We also carry out laboratory tests and have them confirm that there are no residues of pesticides and artificial fertilizers. You can read what we take into account and how we define sustainable food in our blog post:

FOUNDATION OF TEIKEI OLIVE

Or you can watch our video about TEIKEI Olive.
Click here (minute 9:01)

Fair trade is an integral part of our mission statement. Fair wages and structures are our guiding principle. For us, money is not an end in itself, but a means to an end to make the olive oil industry fair for everyone involved. However, we do not have a Fairtrade certificate. We want to develop our own form of trade, with our own principles and standards. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to delve deeper into this topic.

There are many uncontrollable risks in agriculture - crop damage is caused by extreme weather, insects, diseases, etc. Many of these factors are closely linked to climate change, which could potentially have a negative impact on agriculture. In many places, farmers bear these risks on their own shoulders. A good harvest means a secure supply basis for the farmer and his or her family. However, a damaged harvest can quickly threaten their livelihood. We do not want farmers to bear the entire risk of the harvest on their own shoulders, but want to share it in solidarity. We are currently working with a price per liter that includes the risk. You get exactly the amount you paid for.

TEIKEI olive oil is grown in the Peloponnese, Greece. We work particularly with family businesses here. Here you can find out more about our work in Greece and see a map showing the farms' fields. Mapping the fields is a very time-consuming and challenging task. That's why not all fields are mapped yet. However, we are working on a coordination office in Greece that will support all participating farms in entering their fields on this platform.

The olive oil is currently transported on pallets and in 1,000-litre containers by truck. When we reach 33 pallets, we will switch to rail. We are also focusing on transport by sailing ship, a form of transport that is unfortunately unusual today, but which we want to stand up for and spare no expense or effort. It is worth reading more about it here.

The freshly harvested olives are cold-pressed using a purely mechanical pressing process. The result is an extra virgin olive oil. The oil is filtered shortly after production using a special paper sieve. This means we can also offer freshly harvested olive oil in barrels, as otherwise a lot of suspended matter would settle in the barrel and the last liter of olive oil would be very cloudy. When choosing the filter, we placed great importance on filtering out suspended matter and water, but retaining the high proportion of polyphenols and the special flavor nuances of our olive oil. This makes the process more expensive, but it is worth it to us. Our olive oil is characterized by an intense scent, a little spiciness and a fruity, slightly lemony aroma.

The olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place (ideally between 12 and 20 degrees Celsius) and protected from sunlight. Since the olive oil oxidizes in the air, make sure that the lid of the opened container is properly closed again. With canisters, it is also advisable to pour the olive oil into smaller bottles either right at the beginning or as soon as half of the olive oil has been used and to close them properly so that the olive oil comes into contact with the air less often. This step is not necessary with our TEIKEI olive reusable barrels. The barrels are filled with a food-safe protective gas, which stays like a carpet on the surface of the olive oil during use and protects it from harmful oxidation until the expiration date is reached.

You should use your naturally cloudy TEIKEI olive oil within 3 months of opening the canister so that the positive properties of the oil are retained. However, it will not go bad immediately after that and will last for at least 6 months after opening. With unfiltered olive oil, you should also note that it is not as suitable for cooking as filtered olive oil due to the suspended matter present. Please note that we are currently no longer able to offer unfiltered olive oil.

The filtered TEIKEI olive oil has a shelf life of 2 years from the date of harvest.

On each label there is an area that the TEIKEI farmers fill out themselves with a stamp. This stamp contains the producer's initials and the "farm identification". This is made up of the first four letters of the production location and a number.

With this identifier, each olive oil can be traced directly back to its producer or producer group. VASI3 in this case stands for the following information: VASI = Vasilitsi and the 3 stands for Panagiotis Marantos.

You can enjoy TEIKEI olive oil through various channels, and you do not necessarily have to be a TEIKEI Olive member.

1. You take out a subscription with us and become a member of the TEIKEI Olive Community. This is the most in line with our philosophy. Here you can take responsibility and enjoy your olive oil in the most direct and affordable way. Is this the right thing for you? This way.

2. You order as a non-member in our online sample shop. You can order a small amount of TEIKEI olive oil quickly, easily and simply to try it out and see if you like it before becoming part of the community. Is that right for you? This way.

About our Online form you can take out your own subscription. You can choose to take out an individual subscription and have the olive oil delivered directly to your home, or you can take out a community subscription and pick up your olive oil from a distribution station in your community.

We deliver in reusable and disposable containers. Reusable containers are 0.5l bottles and 20l stainless steel barrels. Disposable containers are 3l canisters and 5l canisters. We deliver the olive oil either monthly, bi-monthly, 3-monthly, 4-monthly, half-yearly, or annually. We recommend 3-monthly delivery. We deliver to your home or community within two weeks of receiving your order.

You always pay for a year, but we debit the money at the rate you have chosen for your delivery schedule. So you estimate your approximate annual needs and only pay a proportion of them when you place your order. When you check out, you can choose whether you want to make just one payment and thus pay for a whole year in advance. This is our favorite option.
And don't worry, you can adjust the delivery quantity during the year if you notice that you are using less or more olive oil.

For us, a harvest year always begins and ends in February. This is the month when the new harvest arrives. However, you can become part of the TEIKEI Olive community at any time. You can take out your subscription in any month of the year and enjoy the first delivery of TEIKEI Olive in the following month.

A subscription always runs for one year. In special cases, however, we also accept cancellations within the year and refund the remaining amount. Please contact us at order@teikeiolive.de.

The subscription always runs for one year. You pay in advance for 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 12 deliveries per year, depending on the desired delivery frequency. In order to be able to reliably pre-finance the work of our farmers, the subscription continues until canceled. However, you can cancel for the following harvest or adjust the number of your harvest shares without any problems. We will remind you by email one month before the deadline.

The price for a liter of olive oil varies depending on the quality of olive oil you order from us. The unpackaged version of the "Spring Gold" olive oil is the cheapest model, while the bottled olive oil in the online tasting shop requires the most effort and is therefore the most expensive. You can find the exact cost breakdown here:

PROJECT – CALCULATION OLIVE TREE

Each community member fills out their own harvest share form and registers in a community in the drop-down list. The billing takes place between each member and us and does not have to go through the organizers, so they do not have to chase after the money. The orders are then bundled and combined into one delivery. With each delivery we send a list in which the name and email address of each member are documented, along with the respective quantity ordered. The community receives the coffee package, and the organizers inform the members by email when and how they can pick up their ordered share.

You can see how to handle the stainless steel barrel in this video, or Blog post read.

We also fill the olive oil into 0.5 litre reusable deposit bottles.

Returning dotch reusable bottles is extremely easy: you can return the bottles to almost all deposit machines in organic shops and supermarkets throughout Germany. After the bottles have been returned, dotch and its partners take care of collecting, sorting and professionally cleaning them so that they can be returned to the cycle. You can find more information about the exact return process on the website of dotch.

We currently do not offer unfiltered olive oil, as unfiltered olive oil can change its taste more quickly in larger containers and thus loses its excellent, characteristic properties over time. TEIKEI olive oil is available in an annual subscription and we can guarantee the best quality all year round by gently filtering it directly after the harvest.

Yes, you can flexibly adjust the delivery quantity for the next delivery. If you notice that you have ordered too little or too much olive oil, just contact us.

bestellung.de@teikei.shop

We make the olive oil from olives of varying degrees of ripeness. There are therefore three categories that we call "Zeus' Favorite" - olive oil from green, unripe olives, "Flower Sparkle" - olive oil from ripening, purple olives and "Spring Gold" - olive oil from ripened, black olives. The three varieties differ in the harvest time, but not in the olive itself. All varieties are packaged in our familiar container sizes (0.5l bottle; 3 & 5l canister; 20l barrel*).

*As of Oct.2023

There are several ways for olive oil to reach you.

1. Delivery by post
   If you choose postal delivery when ordering, the delivery will be made to your door by DHL. In this case, the general delivery conditions of DHL apply. For more information, please visit the website from DHL.
2. Pick up from a community
   If you order through a community, we will deliver your olive oil together with all orders from this community to this collection point. Depending on the total order volume of this community, the goods will arrive on a pallet or by post.
3. Special delivery (currently only in selected urban regions)
   In some cities, delivery is already made to your doorstep by cargo bike.

Absolutely right, bottling in the country of origin would actually be much better. However, there are a few points that we have to resolve in our day-to-day operations. So there are a few reasons why bottling locally makes more sense:
1. It is more ecological because we can transport 1,000 liters of olive oil per pallet. When filled in glass bottles, it is only 400 liters because the glass is very heavy.
2. Since we operate a reusable system, it makes sense to keep the distances of empty containers as short as possible. Sending back empty containers makes no economic or ecological sense.
3. We can react flexibly to the needs of the community and only bottle the quantities of TEIKEI olive oil that have been ordered. For these reasons, we are working on setting up bottling plants in Germany and Switzerland.

We are still in the process of developing the sailing route and currently have too little sales volume, so the Avontuur is coming to the Mediterranean especially for us. That would simply be too expensive. That is why we are working on crowdfunding so that we can subsidize the first Mediterranean trip and thus make CO2-free TEIKEI olive sailing ship transport possible.
The Timbercoast is always looking for motivated crew members for its Avontuur. But this is not free. You can find details and conditions on our partners' website. Some of our team members have already had the experience of being on the Avontuur and we can highly recommend this experience. Click here to go to the website.

We would be happy if you would get involved as an active member or organizer in a community. If you would like to go one step further and join the core team of Teikei Olive, please write to us contact@teikei.us. Perhaps we will soon be able to welcome you as a new team member.

You will also find a “Get involved” section on the contact page. Perhaps you can get involved in one of these issues?

Here you will find an overview of the topics in which we are looking for help and support.

After harvesting and further processing, the olive oil is currently filled into IBC tanks directly from the farm and handed over for international transport. For filling into the final containers, we bring the olive oil to Loutraki to a small, family-run bottling plant.

TEIKEI Olive lives through its members. In the future we will be organized as responsible ownership. You can also join Working groups work for a sustainable olive oil industry.

You can take the first step into the community by using TEIKEI olive oil. Subscribe to us. We call this a “harvest share”, or your share of the harvest of the TEIKEI olive community. You can here do.

A bigger step that is very helpful for us is the Establishing a TEIKEI collection point for order groupsThis is your greatest support and you are making a major contribution to bringing TEIKEI to the world.

The community subscription has many advantages and is our favorite model. You have the opportunity to exchange ideas with other members and meet new people. You bundle your deliveries and save on unnecessary shipping and packaging materials. This not only protects the environment, but also your wallet.

If you want to start your own community, the only requirement is that you order at least 12l of olive oil per delivery. If this is guaranteed, just follow these steps:

abundance this form out of.

Here you will be asked step by step how your community should be set up. Delivery frequency, maximum delivery quantity, address of the delivery depot, etc. Once you have filled out all the fields in the form, you can save it. We will use this data to enter your community and you will receive confirmation from us within three days at the latest that we have set up your community. From then on, you and everyone else can sign up for an olive oil subscription at this form.

Billing for each individual subscription is handled between the subscribers and TEIKEI Olive. So you only have to worry about the distribution, we'll take care of the financial side of things.

It is a good idea to set up an email or Telegram distribution list through which you can communicate as a community in order to organize distribution and, if necessary, events.

As an organizer, you can also set up a TEIKEI Olive email address to use for organizational purposes. You can indicate this on the "foundation form".