I am Simone Golob, illustrator and designer, and I live in Maastricht.
For twenty-four years, I have spent my summers in Greece, the country of my husband's parents, where his family lives in Central Greece. As a result, Greece has never been just a holiday destination, but a second home.
Three years ago, we started dividing our lives between Maastricht and the region around Kalamata. There we found our own little spot, right at the point where the liveliness of taverns and terraces gives way to the silence and ruggedness of Mani. I fell in love immediately.
The idea for Kalamata Karma actually arose quite spontaneously . We bought a bottle of olive oil from a local farmer. He told us that the oil from this region is often bought up at low prices by buyers for large, usually Italian, supermarket brands. The goal is to boost inferior oils and blend them into anonymous supermarket blends, so that they barely reach the standards of extra virgin in order to be sold. His story touched us.
That evening we sat at the kitchen table. A piece of bread, a small bowl of oil. The first dip.
I had never tasted olive oil like that before. At that moment, we thought, this must be shared.
It would be a win-win situation. We would support ethical olive oil production and introduce people in the Netherlands to olive oil as it should be.
In early 2025, I started Kalamata Karma, alongside my work as a designer. Our daughter Janna helps out when we are in Greece. It is very busy, but above all, very special to do. The reactions, from Greece and from the Netherlands, make me grateful and give me the feeling that this is right.
​
This is not a marketing idea. But something that has grown.
out of love for honest, healthy products and a response
on mass production and the big profiteers."
ABOUT ME
KARMA
In the world of olive oil, things often go wrong. Beautiful bottles are filled with anonymous, blended oils of mediocre quality, sold for high prices, while the farmer barely earns anything. Origin fades, stories disappear, and true quality gets buried. We do things differently.
OUR PHILOPHOPHY
KALAMATA
Our search began in the region around Kalamata, in the Peloponnese, an enchanting area where olive trees have been growing under optimal conditions for centuries. It is one of the most prestigious olive regions in the world, known for its Kalamon olives and the pure, flavorful, smooth olive oil produced from them, rich in natural antioxidants and polyphenols.
EAST MANI
This harvest season, we turned our attention to East Mani. A rugged, virtually untouched region internationally renowned for its olive oil of exceptional purity and distinctive flavor. Olive trees grow here on poor, stony soil, shaped by sun, wind, and sea—conditions that produce world-class oils. In addition to three beautiful olive oils, we also found here the delicious, pure honey we had been searching for for quite some time.
On this website, we take you along on our quest for truly good olive oil. We show where our products come from and tell the story of the people behind the harvest: their land, their work, and their passion, openly and honestly.
