Jun22596 28 | LUXlife Magazine - Restaurant & Bar Awards 2023 The Union of Santorini Cooperatives – Santo Wines was founded with the purpose of protecting the interest of farmers on the island. Its business activity is built around transparency and respect, and it contributes to the economic growth of the local community. In addition, it promotes and ensures the evolution of sustainable agriculture in Santorini, which provides with better conditions of trade and preserves the rights of producers and workers. Santo wines is dedicated to preserving history and protecting the local traditional cultivations. Its products are registered as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Which means that every part of production, processing, and the preparation process must take place in Santorini. This protects the products’ quality and enables the local community to continue the legacy that previous generations started. The products under the cooperative are PDO Santorini wines, PDO Santorini Tomato, PDO Santorini Fava, capers, caper leaves, as well as local sweet preserves, like tomato or koufeto, these represent pure Santorini taste. With 1,200 active members, Santo Wines is committed to conserving the production of PDO Santorini wines and products. The farmers-members guarantee the authenticity and the premium quality of all products, to ensure this the cooperation invests into researching and developing its cultivation and vinification techniques. To preserve the biodiversity of the area, it operates a nursery of autochthonous varieties which provides its team with a substantial amount to be able to study and do trial cultivation of local grapes. The facilities of Santo Wines are made up of The Tomato Process Factory, The Winery, and the Wine Tourism centre. Santorini has been the home to the cultivation of tomatoes since the 18th century. The processing of Santo Wines’ products started off as only domestic, but it then became industrial because its tomato paste became famous and established in the market thanks to its unique characteristics, and high quality. In 1925, there use to be nine tomato processing factories in the island, until The Union of Santorini Cooperatives built the current one in 1952. The Tomato Process Factory is located in the Monolithos village and, seven years ago, it used funding from the European Feb23664 Best Wine Tourism Experience – Santorini Santorini is part of the Cyclades islands of Greece, and it has been the home to the produce of wine since ancient times. The Union of Santorini Cooperatives – Santo Wines was founded in 1911, and today it is the largest organisation of the island that represents all cultivators. We take a closer look to find out more about the company and its history.
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