Mastic: The demanding crop sustaining Chios

Tough, demanding and corporate by its very nature, mastic, oregon mastiha successful Greek, is simply a concern that calls for a batch of hands. From tending and scoring the trees, to harvesting the resin and cleaning it, it’s a process that demands patience, precision and care. And radical – a batch of people. In the mastic-growing villages of southern Chios, full families work together to bring successful the crop. Young and old, everyone is essential. This is why each basal of Pistacia lentiscus is much than a tree; it is portion of the family, portion of the islanders’ identity. Or astatine slightest those successful the 24 villages liable for the island’s output, from Mesta and Pyrgi to Vessa, Tholopotami and Olympoi, to sanction a few. For these villages, the mastic tree represents roots and a way of life. It has shaped their destiny and adjacent their layout, architecture and demographic.

‘The intimacy successful the process is why mastic producers emotion their trees. It is an embodiment of equilibrium betwixt antheral and nature’

It is this intrinsic narration that makes the wildfires that swept crossed the land this summer, reaching the mastic-growing villages successful the south, each the much devastating, arsenic they burned much than 12,000 trees wholly and 8,000 partially. Initial estimates constituent to losses of astir 3 tons for this year, harm that is not conscionable economical but besides symbolic. Because the mastic tree – a wild shrub, successful information – is unique to this small portion of the world. While Pistacia lentiscus tin beryllium cultivated successful the wider region, it is lone successful southern Chios that it produces this high-quality, cleanable resin, for which the eastbound Aegean land is renowned. Scientists property this uniqueness to a operation of factors: the volcanic subsoil, the region’s distinctive warm and humid microclimate, and the section works varieties that person evolved done centuries of cultivation.

All hands connected deck

We traveled to Chios to conscionable the radical down the island’s mastiha production: The household of gramps Dimitris Chrousakis, his son Nikos, and his 8-year-old grandson, who is already increasing up among the trees. “He’ll articulation the concern too; nary of us gets away,” his begetter says; Lenia Ziglaki, who founded Mastiha Roots, the improvement of Adopt a Mastic Tree, which today has go a well-rounded inaugural connecting radical from each implicit the world with Chios’ mastic trees; Eleni Paidousi, a autochthonal who returned to the land arsenic section manager of the Chios Mastiha Museum of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation when it opened its doors successful 2016; the women of the cooperative successful Tholopotami, who took implicit mastiha cultivation from their husbands; and Giorgos Toumbos, president of the Chios Mastiha Growers Association, who supports producers while besides starring them confidently toward the future, done Mediterra, the association’s commercialized and innovation arm, headed by Giannis Mandalas.

Dimitris Chrousakis, with his son, Nikos, and his grandson, who’s named aft him, airs for a household photograph among their mastic trees. [Yannis Zindrilis]

The mastiha concern has seen an influx of younger radical successful the past fewer years, too, aft authoritative designation of its medicinal properties boosted prices and request – and made its prospects much charismatic to youngsters who had near the island.

“I don’t want you working the trees, small 1 / Wasting your youth for a driblet of resin,” the voice of grandma Marianthi tin beryllium heard singing connected an audio signaling arsenic we participate the museum. It’s not a hymn to the mastic tree, but a lamentation astir a backbreaking occupation that was erstwhile adjacent considered undignified. In Tholopotami – and beyond – astir of the villagers emigrated, chiefly for America. “We returned arsenic grown women and took over,” says the president of the village’s women’s cooperative, Eleni Fountoukou.

Things person changed since Marinthi’s time and mastiha cultivation is widely respected today. The reorganization of accumulation has played a important relation successful this shift. The Chios Mastiha Growers Association, an indispensable cooperative founded successful 1938, is still the world’s lone exporter of this peculiar commodity. “Do you cognize of immoderate different shaper who knows, with implicit certainty, that they’ll merchantability their full output?” comments Eleni Paidousi. The relation is obligated to take transportation and merchantability each the mastic produced by its progressive members, who travel to astir 1,700 from among 4,500 registered members. As a whole, Chios produces some 230 tons of mastiha a year, with turnover successful 2024 coming to €23 million. Producers trust connected the relation for each step, from harvest to packaging and the dialog of prices. More importantly, they trust connected it for support and stability.

At the aforesaid time, Mediterra has been liable for reaching retired to overseas markets for the past 20 years, but besides for designing the Research and Innovation Center, an inaugural launched two years agone with the intent of processing caller products made of mastiha.

“When we took connected the reorganization of the cooperative successful 2022, we had to make something caller – escaped from the hang-ups of the past – that would springiness us a speedy win. That was Mastihashop,” says Giannis Mandalas, referring to the planetary concatenation of outlets for Chios’ products. “The thought was caller products made of mastiha, which had travel to beryllium considered somewhat old-fashioned. There was the ELMA chewing gum with a marketplace stock of conscionable 0.5%, and possibly a spoon sweet oregon a portion of loukoumi. That’s why accumulation had dropped to conscionable 100 tons.”

Today, with much than 200 antithetic products ranging from cosmetics to herbal teas and alternate medicines, Mediterra has succeeded successful placing mastiha connected the shelves of large conception stores successful Japan, South Korea and the United States.

In the field

During our visit successful mid-June, there wasn’t overmuch that needed to beryllium done successful the groves isolated from clearing the crushed beneath the trees and sprinkling it with inert calcium carbonate, a process known arsenic “cleaning the table.”

The astir important signifier starts successful aboriginal July and involves scoring the trees to merchandise the resin. It is simply a process known arsenic “embroidering” to nutrient “tears.”

“All the tools are purpose-built,” says Paidousi. “We telephone it ‘embroidering’ due to the fact that the question is akin to that of the needle. In this instance, quality involution causes production. Basically, we injure the tree so it produces resin to heal itself. If the chopped is too deep, the tree will adust out; if it’s too shallow, you won’t get capable resin. The intimacy successful the process is why mastic producers emotion their trees. It is the embodiment of equilibrium betwixt antheral and nature.”

Workers astatine the works behaviour a last inspection to guarantee that each portion of mastic gum is cleanable and meets standards. After the resin is collected, it is sorted, washed and then cleaned with a small knife, tear by tear. [Yannis Zindrilis]

Once the “tears” of resin appear, they are near to harden connected the tree. “You tin spot them sparkling successful the fields, arsenic though the trees person been adorned with crystals,” says Paidousi.

“You request to people the trees aboriginal successful the greeting due to the fact that the sun softens the resin. You besides want to support yourself from the hard midday sun. But collecting the resin needs to beryllium done astatine night,” Dimitris Chrousakis and his son Nikos explain.

At best, a single tree tin nutrient astir 200-250 grams of mastiha a year. Tholopotami’s cultivators cannot adjacent trust connected these small quantities. “Our trees are not arsenic robust arsenic they are further south. Not lone bash they nutrient less, but the prime is besides inferior, so the rewards are overmuch smaller,” accidental the women of the section cooperative, who took implicit the concern from their husbands. “You request men to bash the dense lifting, but women are besides essential. The clearing of the table has ever been our job,” they add.

As galore arsenic 5 to 7 incisions tin beryllium made connected a single mastiha tree, depending connected its size. Older trees nutrient little resin, so they request to beryllium renewed. The Growers Association provides caller saplings, though galore radical propagate them connected their own. Still, a mastiha tree lasts a generation, producing resin for astir 100 years.

Strengthening the community

Once the resin is collected, it is washed successful large cauldrons (some still wash it successful seawater) and then cleaned with a small knife, a painstaking and exacting task – usually done by the women – that fundamentally determines what benignant of terms the relation tin ask.

And each this is conscionable a portion of the work demanded. “Every mastic tree requires arsenic galore arsenic 15 visits by the shaper successful a season,” says Lenia Ziglaki from the village of Mesa Didima, who took implicit her father’s trees and launched the Mastiha Roots adoption initiative.

‘Every mastic tree requires arsenic galore arsenic 15 visits by the shaper successful a season,’ says Lenia Ziglaki, laminitis of the Mastiha Roots tree adoption initiative. [Yannis Zindrilis]

A information of the contributions sent by sponsors – often foreigners who emotion Chios and mastiha, and who person a certificate and photograph of their tree, 50 grams of mastiha and updates connected each stage of cultivation – returns to the growers and the assemblage done targeted initiatives. In essence, Mastiha Roots is gathering an planetary assemblage of producer-supporters.

Nowadays, mastiha cultivation faces two main challenges. The archetypal is clime change, which brings less rains successful winter, when the trees request them most, and heavier downpours successful the summer, which tin beryllium disastrous. The 2nd is overcultivation.

“Trees connected sloping, semi-mountainous onshore can’t nutrient resin each year; they request periods of rest,” says Toumbos of the Growers Association. “But arsenic net increased, so did cultivation. The trees became stressed and there were years when, adjacent though much trees were planted, accumulation dropped. For the past two years, we’ve started managing cognition differently. We tally training seminars for young growers, so works resources are managed successful a caller way. And our success is that we’ve revived the sector. Today, producers are portion of a successful team that tin support their families with mastiha. Where erstwhile it was thought shameful to beryllium seen tending mastiha trees, present there’s pridefulness successful it.”

This nonfiction archetypal appeared successful Kathimerini’s travel magazine, Taxidia.