"We have a real salad culture here in Greece, so it is the perfect fit, however, the market here is still pretty traditional, so it takes a bit of time before consumers try something new. Saying that, the market has changed a lot over the last 10 to 15 years, when you could pretty much only find Romaine and Batavia lettuce, now we are seeing more variety, like head lettuce and baby leaves," explains Antonis.
The company has deliberately introduced new greens into the market to ease Greek consumers into the new products.
"W
e started by introducing baby leaves into salad mixes, and we introduced a new line at Freskon, which will include baby kale, along with the 'Perivoli' living salad. Although consumers here want to be healthy, offering them a full bag of kale would be too much for them and they wouldn't really know what to do with it, which is why we have included baby kale into our salad mixes, something they are familiar with. We are targeting forward thinking consumers with our new line, who are bored of the traditional offering and would like to try something different. These same consumers are very aware of superfoods and want to add more to their diets," Antonis said.Farm Vezyroglou produces around 3,000 tons of lettuce annually, across 70 hectares. For now, the company is active domestically and in neighbouring countries, but once the brand has been built up, they plan on expanding their exports further afield.
"The face of the company, a garden bunny, is on every salad packaging we offer. We feel that a mascot helps us build our brand, making it more recognisable, when you see the bunny, you know that it is a high quality product."
For more information:
Antonis Vezyroglou
Farm Vezyroglou
Tel: +30 6974119610
Email: antonis@vezyrogloufarm.com
www.vezyrogloufarm.com