‘We need to promote organic foods’ George Drys

Holidaymakers in Greece are invariably struck by the freshness of the food, whether vegetables, fruit, fish, meat or dairy products. For the Greeks themselves are very demanding when it comes to food quality as indicated by their rapidly increasing demand for organic produce.
The organic sector grew at a rate of 69 per cent year-on-year in 1999-2000 – in comparison, the average growth rate in the EU was 25 per cent over the same period. “I would like to stimulate and promote the use of organic, ecological products,” says agriculture minister George Drys.

Britain buys a third of all dairy exports, primarily yoghurt

The area given over to organic farming rose to 24,800 hectares in 2000, up from 15,849 hectares in 1999. Although this represents less than one per cent of total land under cultivation in Greece – and is a long way behind Italy – the organic acreage is growing steadily. Imports of packed organic products from Western European countries are also growing.
Olive tree cultivation is a vital component of the Greek agricultural sector, and Mr Drys recently earmarked a total of $9 million as part of a programme to improve production. Exports of Greek bottled olive oil are growing at around 10 per cent a year.

Wine production is improving in quality and most vineyards made profits last year. Modern methods of production are being introduced and new vines are being planted to meet the challenge of expanding export markets.
Wine producer Skouras is investing $2 million in a new winery in Argos, in the south of Greece. Skouras exports about 45 per cent of its annual output to Scandinavia, the US and Japan.

One of the most important sectors of the food industry is dairy production. It is the second major food group in terms of consumption, after meat. Many Greek dairy industries have turned towards added-value products, such as fortified milk, yoghurt, and various milk desserts and drinks.
Significant improvements have been made in milk collection and distribution, not only to bring them up to Western European standards but also to make the industry more competitive.

There has been considerable investment in the dairy sector, mainly by large industrial conglomerates. In the decade to 1999, more than $277.5 million was invested, about 45 per cent from 11 major companies in the sector. The industry has also gained EU funds, benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises.
Greece’s main export destinations are the EU countries, and Britain ranks first. Britain buys about a third of all dairy exports, principally yoghurt. Germany and Italy are second and third respectively, again importing mainly yoghurt.
Most dairy exports are made by the big industrial businesses such as Fage, Delta and Megval because they are able to meet the high standards demanded by major purchasers such as supermarkets.

However, a big constraint on the dairy industry has been the quota system for milk production, which has resulted in a deficit of up to 20 per cent in the Greek domestic market for the past four years. A further restraint has been the lower yields per farm, particularly compared with Britain, Holland and Denmark.
“European milk quotas are a barrier to the development of the Greek dairy industry,” comments Mary Chatzakou, president of Megval, the third-largest dairy group in Greece. “We believe the Greek government will continue to press for an increase in quotas, by providing comparative data from other members of the EU.”

Megval was founded more than half a century ago in the village of Koufalia, 40km from Thessaloniki in the north. In the past three years, during which the firm has experienced annual growth of 10 per cent, exports have accounted for 15 per cent of turnover, worth $16.7 million.
Germany is the biggest recipient of Megval products, the UK takes about a fifth of its exports and the rest is distributed among more than 20 other countries.
Megval’s products include several varieties of cheese, fresh milk and 52 different types of yoghurt. In the domestic market, fresh milk has a 14 per cent share, yoghurt 12 per cent and cheese 15 per cent.

Feta cheese is made from a blend of 70 per cent sheep milk and 30 per cent goats’ milk. Kasseri cheese is made only from sheep’s milk. Megval also produces a semi-hard cheese made from cows’ milk. “We also intend to introduce other traditional Greek cheeses, for which there is acceptance in the UK,” adds Mrs Chatzakou.
Traditional Greek cheeses include Formaella of Parna-ssos, a hard cheese made from goats’ or ewes’ milk, which is rich and piquant in flavour; Manouri, an exceptional whey cheese; and Mizithra, considered the ancestor of all whey cheeses, which is available dried and grated, and either salted or unsalted.

Others include the white brine cheese called Kalathaki of Limnos, similar to feta, Graviera of Naxos, and Ladotiri of Mitilini. All of them are DOC (controlled denomination of origin).
However, Greek companies, for whom the domestic market is relatively small, are rapidly expanding into the Baltic states, which offer a market of more than 55 million people. Greece, Spain and the other southern European states are also forging alliances to protect their agricultural interests.
Fish farming is another area of growth. Aquaculture company Seafarm Ionian recorded pre-tax profits of $2 million in the first nine months of last year, a 68.6 per cent increase on the same period of 2000. Exports doubled over the same period.