Kofinas Olive Oil
Nick Semertzides, Owner of Kofinas Olive Oil
Evie Semertzides spends her spring and summer in the small village of Stavies on the Greek island of Crete where she finds the perfect zest ingredients to use as flavoring in her family’s business, Kofinas Olive Oil. She inspects the entire infusion process from beginning to end and only uses the best natural ingredients to bring back to the United States.
Evie created Kofinas Olive Oil on the island of Crete where her family has a property with rich olive tree groves and vineyards. Once her son, Nick, left the military, he started working for the family business, and it grew from there.
Kofinas Olive Oil started at Findlay Market about 11 years ago in the Farmers Market and eventually moved to a full time stand in the Market House a few years later where Evie, Nick, and Nick’s wife, Eleni, manage the business.
According to Nick, a big part of the company’s success has been Findlay Market as a whole. “Anyone who wants to start a business with food would be foolish to start it anywhere else. Findlay Market is a place where you can make it happen that you can’t anywhere else,” says Nick.
The process of making the flavorful Kofinas Olive Oil is time-consuming and labor intensive. The olives from the groves are harvested in February and taken to mills to be put into large tanks. Flavoring the olive oil is an even longer process that involves collecting dry versions of the flavor and grinding it into powder. The powder is then put into small tea-like bags to settle in the oil for about a month. Although the process is challenging, Nick says that the end result is worth it because only all-natural ingredients are used instead of artificial flavoring.
“We offer unique products that come from a specific part of the world that people in the United States don’t have access to,” says Eleni.
Starting the business and building a loyal customer base was difficult in the beginning because the Semertzides family was competing with big name supermarkets, like Jungle Jim’s, that offer hundreds of different brands of olive oils for half the price.
“We had to convince customers that our product is so much better than what’s out there. But now we have loyal customers who come from 2 states away to buy our olive oil,” Nick begins, “If we went out of business tomorrow, there would genuinely be a lot of unhappy customers and that's a very humbling and gratifying experience to me.”
The Kofinas Olive Oil stand at Findlay Market allows customers the opportunity to sample the product and learn more about the process of making the naturally-flavored Kofinas Olive Oil. Nick’s favorite flavor is a Mediterranean infused oil with balsamic vinegar which makes a classic Italian flavor that is great for cooking. Eleni’s favorite flavor is an orange or lemon since Evie hand picks the local zest from her trees in Crete.
Nick, Eleni and Evie each bring ideas, thoughts and insights on how to run the business. They rely on one another as family members and business partners to continuously find new ways to grow their business, connect with customers, and improve the overall experience for shoppers at Findlay Market. The next time you’re at the market, we encourage you to stop by, spend some time with one of the members of the family and learn more about Kofinas.
Published: January 2022