Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is calling on manufacturers of traditional foods and beverages, from fish-roe producers to honey makers, to play a bigger role in transforming the country into an export economy, Bloomberg news agency said in a report.

According to the agency’s article, Mr. Samaras stated to industry representatives last week in Lesvos, that “food and beverage companies need to catch up with export-oriented industries like fuels and do more to help pull the country out of a six-year recession”.

Mr. Samaras also added that more Greek food companies should focus on processing agricultural produce in order to bring Greek products to international markets.

The article also referred to data released by the Panhellenic Exporters Association, which reveal that Greek exports of agricultural products including food, beverages and vegetable oils rose 3.5 percent by value in 2013 to 4.75 billion euros.

At around 17 percent of the total value of Greek exports, the food and beverage industry trails fuels and industrial goods like machinery and chemical products.

According to the article, some food producers like olive-oil and flame-roasted red pepper maker Gaea Products SA started business by only focusing abroad while others have used exports to offset the shortfall in Greek sales.
Gaea, for example, gets 82 percent of its sales outside Greece. Its international sales grow on average 18 percent a year and the company sells to 26 countries, including Germany and the U.S., where its Gaea Kalamata product last month won a gold medal at the New York International Olive Oil Competition.

Bloomberg also mentioned Papadimitriou CC SA, a southern Greek maker of products from balsamic vinegar to mustard and also to Carpo Hellas. The company’s founder Kostas Kontopoulos gambled in December 2011, at the peak of the crisis, that he could make a profit selling luxury foods, including dried fruit and nuts.

“Everyone was frightened and told me I was crazy to launch a store in the middle of such an unstable period,” he said. The success of his formula, where customers are encouraged to taste before buying, led to a new store in London’s Piccadilly neighborhood last year and plans for openings in Rome, Paris, Milan and the Middle East.