We can trace our family’s involvement in the production and marketing of foodstuffs since at least the middle of the19th century. Our surname, Vaimaki, which means” the Mother of oil”, indicates this. Towards the end of the 19th century, our family, who were based in Paramythia, Thesprotia , an important commercial hub of Epirus at the time, were involved in the production of wine, raki and vinegar and the marketing of oil. They also ran a bakery and restaurant.
Apart from the restaurant, which was closed after the war, the other enterprises continued to flourish until the beginning of the 70’s. Our wine was, in fact, given a golden award in the International Exhibition in Thessalonika in 1955. With changes in life style and a downturn in the economy, the manufacturing side closed first and afterwards the bakery. During the 70’s Vassilios Vaimakis, a newly qualified chemist by profession, decided to follow the family tradition of winemaking as an oenologist. He worked for years in various wineries in Greece, and was regarded with respect and recognized for his skills and talents. During the 90’s he decided to deal with a branch of wine products, vinegar, which as a tradition, had been sorely neglected in Greece and had suffered from the industrialization of its production.
He set up production in one of the most famous wine producing regions in Greece, in Zitsa, Ioannina. He used local grape varieties and in 2005, marketed the first samples of his vinegar. Within a very short space of time he was lauded with praise both from connoisseurs/tasters and consumers. He runs the business himself, along with his wife Katerina. The product is marketed under the brand name of Oxos – Traditional Vinegar of the Vaimaki Family. Oxos is the Ancient Greek term for vinegar.