Part Two: See How High Is High? Link
Why Aristoleo Certification Exists at All
(and why it could only ever have come from us)
By the time the ARISTOIL Interreg MED program wrapped up—after years of research across five countries—we were finally on the brink of what felt like a turning point.
Aristoleo was mandated to create the marketing portal for this fledgling category of olive oil with a health claim. Athan made a presentation to Circle the MED, which was the next iteration of the Interreg MED series, and introduced the Aristoleo Retail Cooler and the DataLok Protocol, based on a block chain model to preserve the integrity of the new emerging brands — to protect both producer and end user.
Aristoleo was positioned to receive €1,5 million in EU grant funding, matching government funds with private investment, to build the very infrastructure needed for a new HP-EVOO economy and creating a true marketplace for verified High Phenolic EVOOs.
It would have changed everything.
And then, overnight… the world stopped.
COVID: The Collapse of the Road Ahead
Athan had flown back to Canada for cancer-treatment assessments. He was on his way back to join Marilyn on Aegina by way of Cyprus to complete the program...his flight landed and the borders closed.
Athan was stranded in Cyprus for the entire four-month lockdown — isolated, undergoing evaluations, with no way home.
The grant evaporated.
The funding window closed.
Every plan connected to Circle the MED halted instantly.
What didn’t halt was the work.
We Had Already Put Everything On the Line
By then, we had spent our own capital — not “some” of it, all of it.
We had provided Aristoleo Test Kits at cost.
We had worked without pay.
We had fought through internal and governing politics, disappearing partners, competing agendas, and more than one brand mutiny from companies who had benefitted from our work but turned away the moment transparency no longer suited them.
And still, we kept going.
We Kept Going Because Athan Kept Going
Through COVID.
Through cancer.
Through the uncertainty, isolation, and sheer exhaustion of two simultaneous battles.
We continued the Aristoleo Awards even on Zoom during COVID!
We kept promoting the science when the market didn’t yet exist.
We kept telling the truth when the industry preferred obfuscation.
Why? Because we could see the problem forming clearly:
Phenolic values change year to year.
Natural variation. Climate. Harvest. Cultivar. Method.
Yet customers were confused and producers were afraid.
A lower phenolic level in a later harvest could be perceived as “inferior” —
even when it wasn’t.
Uncertainty in the market served some better than transparency and educating the public.
Infomercials Substituted for Education.
Meanwhile, outrageous health claims were multiplying: unverified numbers, made-up categories, meaningless lab analysis methods, inflated totals, imaginary “super-phenolic” levels. Anyone savvy with SEO became an authority
Early in the lockdown I saw a FB post saying the High Phenolic EVOO was the answer for COVID! Said who? And I don't mean WHO!
And there was no one to stop it.
No standard.
No consistency.
No accountability.
Not from EFSA.
Not from national governments.
Not from producers themselves.
Recently Croatia introduced a certification — a step in the right direction —
but even that is treated with discomfort by producers who don’t want scrutiny.
The irony?
Had the EU grant gone through, the certification would have come from them.
Instead, it collapsed in the chaos of COVID.
Which left only one question:
If not us — who? It took us awhile, but if not now — when?
This Is Personal
For Athan, High Phenolic EVOO is not a trend, or a niche, or a marketing descriptor.
It is part of his daily long-term health strategy — a cornerstone of how he supports his body alongside medical treatment. Still — after 7 years since his diagnosis of aggressive metastasized prostate cancer. He is unequivocally a champion — bravely talking the talk and walking the walk so other men have more choices.
HP-EVOO changed his trajectory.
So integrity in this space isn’t academic.
It’s not theoretical.
It’s not optional.
It’s life.
So We Did the Thing No One Else Would Do
With no funding.
No safety net.
No institutional backing.
No political protection.
We built Aristoleo Certification:
• transparent
• scientific
• independent
• accountable
• rigorous
• year-over-year
• method-consistent
• and impossible to buy or influence
A standard rooted in the actual science of NMR, LC/MS/MS, and phenolic biochemistry — not marketing spin, backed by the ARISTOIL findings.
Because the world desperately needs a way to separate truth from theatre.
Because the people relying on HP EVOO for health deserve real information.
Because the producers willing to do the work deserve recognition that cannot be faked.
Because the future of this category depends on someone drawing the line in the sand.
And because Athan — standing in the middle of cancer treatment and a global lockdown — said the words that became our guiding truth:
“If not us… then who?”