Driven by his love for nature, Vasilis Koutroulakis migrated to the countryside in the late 1990s at the age of 19, after he decided to leave his permanent residence in Athens and move to Planitero, Kalavrita, his mother’s birthplace.

Agriculture, and more specifically beekeeping, became the passport that allowed him to make this journey. “I wanted to leave Athens. I had already made up my mind, I didn’t like the way of life there and wanted to be closer to nature. Although I had decided to work in the agricultural sector, beekeeping came about by chance.

When I finished school, I found out there was a Technical Vocational School of Beekeeping at the Syggrou Estate in Anavrita, so I went there. After graduating and finishing my military service, I moved to Planitero. And even though I already had a very well-paying job, I left it to pursue beekeeping,” he says to “YX”.

He now produces award-winning, high-quality honey following organic beekeeping practices. He owns more than 500 beehives, has built his own processing facility and workshop, and has even expanded his operations into exports. “My family had zero connection to beekeeping, so I essentially built everything from the ground up,” he explains.