Discover Liven Cyprus: Crafting Fresh, Hyper-Local Oils Rooted in Cyprus’ Natural Heritage

Can you share the story behind Liven Cyprus? What inspired the move to Cyprus, and what opportunity did you see in the island’s natural and agricultural landscape? What milestones have you achieved so far (e.g. product development, partnerships, local sourcing, market growth, community engagement)?

Our work today is really a reflection of a long journey of self-discovery, travel and experimentation that ultimately led to Cyprus. It became the obvious choice to build Liven on this small island, both due to a checklist of must-haves, and a gut feeling and sense of flow that brought us to meet suppliers, partners and customers with a like-minded philosophy. Cyprus has always been famous for its aromatic and medicinal plants, and there is documentation of its production and export going back 4,000 years. We wanted to also make a statement about the imbalances in the extended global supply chain that lead to exploitation of the labor and raw materials and mislead the consumer, not only in our industry. This means a hyper-local focus. Our goal has been to produce a superior product that meets international standards. We want to supply the island, first and foremost, by replacing inferior quality imports, and then export our surplus. We hope to have an impact by encouraging young people to returning to farming, so we can create employment and economic impact for Cyprus.

Liven’s philosophy focuses on “bringing seasonality to skincare,” while your production approach places strong emphasis on freshness, transparency, and minimal processing — something that differs significantly from many large-scale oil manufacturers and conventional wellness brands. What does this philosophy mean in practice, what motivated you to challenge more conventional industry practices, and what do you believe ultimately makes Liven Cyprus different from other skincare, essential oil, or wellness brands currently on the market?

Theodora Iacovou, Polidorou Design, Four Seasons Magazine.

Our approach really stems from two converging lines of thinking. First, we wanted to “call bullshit” on some very misleading and potentially damaging practices in our sector, not only in Cyprus. Just because something is “assembled” locally doesn’t mean it’s “made” locally. There’s a lot of bad behavior in which companies import oils from all over the world, and without disclosing to the consumer where and when they were made, they are rebottled and sold under the local label. It leaves room for dilution and adulteration with little transparency, all in the name of making the economics work. Second, our approach is possible because of the unique climate and flora of Cyprus. We make 10 base oils and around 25 essential oils, including many of the most popular and consumed. So we’re lucky that we can create an entire line of products from local raw materials, which wouldn’t be possible in many other countries.

Cyprus has a long history connected to herbs, oils, and perfumes dating back to antiquity. How has the island’s biodiversity, endemic plants, and cultural heritage influenced your work and product philosophy?

First of all, as anyone who lives in or has visited Cyprus already knows, the fruits, vegetables and herbs here are extremely strong in taste. There is something unique in the climate, soil, and the endemic plants that have evolved without much human intervention over centuries. So our goal has been to reflect that in our work, and in some ways really go against the trend in industry which is towards standardization and monoculture. We produce oils from the local varieties of certain plants, like river mint, lavender sage, myrtle, pine, and oregano which aren’t found elsewhere. While their smells and properties might not be familiar to global consumers of more standardized and genetically-modified plants, we do our best to make them available and appreciated for their uniqueness.

Your production approach places strong emphasis on freshness, transparency, and minimal processing — something that differs significantly from many large-scale oil manufacturers. What motivated you to challenge more conventional industry practices, and what have been some of the biggest challenges and lessons along the way?

Our goal when we started experimenting with production was not necessarily to buck industry trends. We just wanted to produce a superior product. Along the way we started asking questions about why our oils had a strong taste, smell and color, and that led us to question what larger producers are doing to standardize and preserve their products. Actually our approach is very simple, I think it’s big industry that complicates things by all the extra intervention they choose to incorporate to meet their economic goals. The main challenge for us is to educate people and build trust, which is something that is difficult to do over the internet or social media, it really requires our customers to get to know us and our production, and to encounter the oils we make and compare with what else is commercially available.

Sustainability is deeply embedded in Liven’s approach, particularly through the use of upcycled agricultural byproducts and local sourcing. Why was it important for you to build the business around circular and sustainable practices, and how do you ensure that sustainability remains part of every stage of the process?

Sustainability is core to our way of doing things because it helps us acquire superior raw materials, and it makes good business sense. The wineries and jam and juice factories we work with very carefully select their raw materials (grapes, apricots, cherries, pumpkin seeds and more). By washing and drying the leftovers for us, they earn extra income on raw materials they’ve already paid for, and we know we are getting fresh and high-quality seeds and nuts. If we were to import these seeds, we would have less control over the process, and subject the raw materials to the inspections and fumigation and temperature fluctuations inherent with long supply chains. Plus, much of that investment would go to the shipping, transportation, storage and customs rather than directly into the hands of the supplier. Meanwhile, the first resellers of our products were also our suppliers, so this meant our suppliers profited twice by collaborating with us, and we also got to test products and receive feedback. It’s the definition of win-win.

You participated in the Agrifood Digital Transition & Sustainability Bootcamp organised by DiGiNN and SocialTech Lab, a programme focused on helping agrifood businesses adopt digital tools and sustainable practices. What motivated you to join the programme, and what did you take away from the experience? Were there any ideas, technologies, or conversations that particularly resonated with you or influenced the way you think about innovation, collaboration, or the future of agrifood entrepreneurship in Cyprus?

It’s very important for us to collaborate with others and learn from the experiences of our colleagues who are facing some of the same challenges. We really benefited from meeting some high profile people in the sector, and exchanging knowledge. There are many opportunities in Cyprus to adapt solutions developed elsewhere to help with local challenges. But we also learned that there is much we can develop here that has relevance in other markets, if we are able to work together on solutions.

One of the most interesting aspects of Liven is the educational side of your work — from explaining true cold-pressing methods to raising awareness around freshness, purity, and ingredient transparency. Why do you think consumer education around these topics is especially important today?

It’s important because we live in very strange times. AI and social media are becoming omnipresent, and there is a tendency to defer to an external opinion of something over our own innate wisdom or intuition. Our senses don’t lie and don’t have an agenda other than what’s in our personal best interest. Many of the artificial fragrances and products are hijacking our judgment, and also robbing us of the experience of pure and natural creations. And the marketing machines of big corporations are plastering labels and advertisements full of false and misleading claims, that prey on insecurities and fear. We believe, however, by exposing people to the “real thing,” this will activate their intuition and allow them to discern, regardless of what is written on the outside of the bottle.

Liven combines traditional knowledge and ancestral practices with modern extraction methods and innovative production techniques. How do you balance preserving authenticity and heritage while also embracing innovation and experimentation?

It’s an intuitive process, we don’t hesitate to use modern machines in our preparation, storage, production and especially cleaning. But our goal remains to produce a pure product that doesn’t require chemicals or other intervention to make it “presentable” or safe for the public. This means we have to constantly make judgments about where in the process the human eye or human hand is required. And we have to figure out how to make it as efficient and effective as possible. Our process is constantly evolving as we learn more, buy new equipment, and scale up our production quantities. Thankfully it’s a very collaborative industry, and we share a lot of knowledge with other small producers in the field.

Can you share a product, collaboration, or moment that felt like a turning point for the business?

There have been many! We are very grateful to have strong collaborations with Niki Sweets and Christoudia wineries, which we have worked with for four years now. We are proud to see our products used in bakeries, restaurants, bars and hotels around the island. Recently we began supplying the Four Seasons Hotel in Limassol with several signature blends for their spa. We are very proud to have a local hotel of their reputation choose an entirely local product, and we are hopeful to support more hotels and spas with customized, uniquely Cypriot products.

What’s next for Liven Cyprus? Are there any upcoming products, collaborations, research directions, or expansion plans you are currently exploring?

We just moved to a new and much larger production facility in Maroni. We constantly have inquiries to buy larger quantities of our products from abroad, and we mainly refuse them,  because we want to supply the island first and foremost. We are against the trend where a country’s local resources are exported for consumption in another market and aren’t available to locals who either can’t afford it or it’s simply not for sale. So, we are currently in the process of increasing our production capacity as well as recruiting and developing new suppliers in the agricultural sector to meet our increased need for raw materials.

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