ABEA ( el, Ανώνυμος Βιομηχανική Εταιρία Ανατολή -ΑΒΕΑ, ''Anatoli Industries S.A.'' -AVEA) is a company that produces
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
in their factories in
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. It was founded in 1889 and today is the oldest olive oil processing plant in Greece. Their headquarters are based in the city of
Chania. In the
2017 Cretan Olive Oil Competition, ABEA finished 5th in the "Honorable Mentions" list for the "Organic Olive Oil" award. Their shop, headquarters, and factories are all based within the
Chania regional unit.
History
In 1889 Jules Dey ( el, Ιούλιος Δέης), a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
chemist, founded the company in the
Nea Chora district of the city of
Chania, and started producing
olive pomace oil.
The company's plant in Chania was situated next to the
Jewish cemetery
A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...
. Dey, was already active in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, where he had built a similar factory, processing and exporting to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
material for making
Marseille soap
Marseille soap or ''Savon de Marseille'' () is a traditional hard soap made from vegetable oils that has been produced around Marseille, France, for about 600 years. The first documented soapmaker was recorded there in about 1370. By 1688, Louis ...
.
In 1894, the company was acquired by the Sahel Tunisien company. The building permit for the first factory was issued in 1899 by the Executive Council of the autonomous
Cretan State.
In 1916 a group of local businessmen repurchased the company; these were Petros Markantonakis, Georgios Kassimatis, Constantinos Manoussakis, Ioannis Naxakis, and Kyriakos Naxakis. The company was renamed to its present name,
[ and the new entity was officially incorporated on January 16, 1917, by the revolutionary ]Provisional Government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...
of Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...
in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
.[ Since then, the company operated successfully until the breakout of ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Venizelos had close personal ties with the owners of the company, and at least one time, in the early 1930s, he visited the factory, possibly when its reconstruction procedure (completed in 1935) was in progress.[ During the ]Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...
, multiple air bombings by the Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
destroyed much of the factory and infrastructure. It was rebuilt in the years after the war and operations resumed. In 1951 the company changed its status following from then on a cooperative model of enterprise by local producers, focusing in the production of olive oil. By 2011, besides olive oil, it was producing only natural green soap powder for washing machine
A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and ...
s made from olive kernels;[ this product was finally discontinued, and ABEA turned to the production of green soap in bars and in liquid form in containers for personal use.
In 1994, ABEA's pomace oil and soap making plants were relocated to ]Keramia
Keramia ( el, Κεραμιά, Δήμος Κεραμιών) is a former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. The mun ...
, a small municipality south of Chania. The year 2004 was a huge step for ABEA's olive oil production process. The olive oil press was relocated and modernized to the present-day location of Agrokipio, in the Municipality of Eleftherios Venizelos. In 2014, 51% of the company's stocks was bought over by the cooperative bank of Chania.[
Although much of the old factory of the company has been demolished, its remains and especially the two standing chimneys, are considered by many to be important monuments of the social and urban history of Chania, and its culture. In 2016 Tassos Vamvoukas, the mayor of Chania, asked for the preservation of the chimneys, and to be formally acknowledged from the ]Greek Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture and Sports ( el, Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού) is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage, promoting the arts, and overseeing sp ...
as modern constructions of high cultural value. The case is still pending before the Greek Central Council for Modern Monuments.
Awards and Recognitions
In 2015, ABEA received a distinction in the 7th contest of extra virgin olive oil, "Excellence 2015", held at the hotel Divani Caravel. ABEA was also granted the bronze "Excellence 15" prize amongst 74 other samples and products.
In 2018 the industrial complex of company with its founder, the French chemist Jules Dey, was awarded the EurChemS (European Chemical Society
The European Chemical Society (EuChemS) is a European non-profit organisation which promotes collaboration between non-profit scientific and technical societies in the field of chemistry.Dr. John V. Holder, ''The European Association for Chemica ...
) Historical Landmark Award along with the Ytterby
Ytterby () is a village on the Swedish island of Resarö, in Vaxholm Municipality in the Stockholm archipelago. Today the residential area is dominated by suburban homes.
The name of the village translates to "outer village". Ytterby is perh ...
mine in Sweden. The award is considered to honor locations in Europe which played a significant role in the history of chemistry.
Otherwise, here is a list of other awards and recognitions ABEA has won:
* TUV Hellas System Certification ISO 22000
* TUV Hellas System Certification ISO 9001
Products
ABEA specializes in producing two main areas of production: olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
and soap. It produces four kinds of olive oils and four kinds of soap items.[{{Cite web, url=http://www.abea.gr/en/products/cosmetics-en/, title=Product Categories: Cosmetics, website=www.abea.gr, access-date=2018-06-05]
References
1889 establishments in the Ottoman Empire
Food and drink companies of Greece
Organizations based in Crete