Our story
The Lambrou family created Kumilio in 2015. Costas Lambrou is the family’s liaison with Kimi – otherwise called “balcony of the Aegean” – as he was born and bred there; a fertile region which, endowed by history with a particular cultural imprint, has been a source of inspiration for the family. This strong bond along with their love for the figs, the most precious local product, has led their decision to create Kumilio so as to convey their perception of nature, their land and its community’s tradition. Nowadays, they are taking care of about 1.000 fig trees at Kaddi, a Kimi village, where they also keep a small unit of sorting and processing figs.
Our inspiration
We were inspired by the intrinsic connection of a fruit to its particular soil. It is our way of making the Kimi fig known, fresh or sun-dried: a fruit intensively present in the long line of greek nutrition, one that combines sweet taste with rare nutritional value. To us, Kumilio represents the collective memory of Kimi’s people. We have been following cultivating and processing techniques based on traditional methods developed there over the centuries. Given our respect for this specific tradition, we keep on looking for ways to further boost the value of the fig and its by-products.
Collaborations
At Kími, fig season is a time when the whole community gets involved. We make the best of our produce but at the same time try to build firm alliances with other devoted local producers. Competition is not within our frame of mind; we rather aim at supporting them and — consequently — the local community in general. Together we decide on cultivation practices to be implemented, exchange relevant experience and know-how, constantly aiming at optimizing our production and processing steps depending on the particular needs of each product. Our common desire is to highlight the importance of cooperativeness as a way to strengthen the local community on a social as well as on a financial level.