Exports made easier through supermarkets
Greek products have found a better way to penetrate foreign markets: via Greek supermarket enterprises or foreign chains that are active in Greece.
This method has several advantages for Greek suppliers as they can negotiate with distribution channels they are acquainted with, instead of having to make direct contacts with retail enterprises that they have had no prior relations with.
A few days ago, Greek Embassy officials in Bucharest met with the general director of the Mega Image supermarket chain. The meeting focused on finding ways to strengthen the presence of Greek products in the chain, which belongs to the Belgium-based Delhaize Group. This company is also the owner of Greek supermarket chain AB Vassilopoulos, whose former head, Costas Machairas, is now Delhaize’s regional director for Southeastern Europe.
More than 250 Greek products are on Lidl shelves in other European countries, not only in Germany, where there is a strong Greek minority, but also in countries such as Finland. Hundreds of Greek products have also made their way to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia through the Vero chain, which belongs to the Veropoulos family, as well as Bulgaria, Albania and Cyprus, where the Marinopoulos Group controls the Carrefour brand.
