Dough maker continues rise in global popularity

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maker CONTINUES

POPULARITY

Dough manufacturer Evoiki Zimi is about to realise history-changing plans with a €5 million relocation to bigger premises to boost capacity output and introduce a new line of plant-based products. Export Director Konstantinos Konstantakis spoke to Andy Probert about how the family business evolved into a globally-focused Greek-based leader in the dough sector.

Apassion for personally crafted dough has enabled manufacturer Evoiki Zimi to evolve from a small-scale business to one that now exports to more than 50 countries.

With over 30 years of experience, the company’s owners are now poised to take their steps of evolution in 2022 with a new manufacturing plant that doubles capacity and new diversifications in their product mix.

Zimarika Psahnon, the forerunner to Evoiki Zimi, was launched in 1984 as a small personal enterprise crafting pasta from the best ingredients and reflecting the traditional recipes of Evia, the second-largest Greek island after Crete.

Separated from mainland Greece by the Euripus Strait, Evia has remained the home of the dough-making business, which came into its own in the 1990s when it was incorporated with the investment of the Konstantakis family and became Evoiki Zimi SA.

The company scaled up, expanding its activities in frozen dough products, such as pastry and pasta, and emboldened by export sales to Greek diaspora in various countries, moved to new production facilities in Chalkida in 2004 with a new focus in chilled dough.

As its presence and reputation have grown in supermarkets across Greece and in top-selling exporting countries of Israel, Italy, the USA, China and Germany, the company grew with additional facilities in Crete and on mainland Greece.

Investment game-changer

With crust filo pastry, Kataifi pastry, country style filo pastry, puff pastry and traditional Greek pasta at the forefront of the business, Evoiki Zimi is quickly advancing on its day of reckoning, with the opening of its new ‘game-changing’ €5 million manufacturing facility in Vathy, within the Evia municipality of Avlida.

Export Director Konstantinos Konstantakis explained: “Our existing facilities are 3,000 sqm, but the new manufacturing plant will be 7,000 sqm and represents the biggest investment in the company’s history.

“Our philosophy is simple: to offer the world our culture, our products and our recipes. That has been embraced around the planet, from the US to Japan. We are in the Gulf, across Europe and Asia, and export accounts for 42% of all our trade.

“To continue to do that, we aim for greater capacity to help reach more consumers, with more products in more places, and increase market share. This is a very exciting time in our history and it will cement our presence among the top five dough manufacturers in Greece.”

The company annually produces 1,700 tonnes of filo pastry, 1,400 tonnes of country-style pastry, 1,200 tonnes of Kataifi pastry and 800 tonnes of puff pastry. Once in full-scale production

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at the new facility, those numbers will rise by about 120% – to 4,000 tonnes of filo pastry, 2,000 tonnes of country-style pastry, 2,400 tonnes of Kataifi and 3,000 tonnes of puff pastry.

“Evoiki Zimi remains family-owned, and we have faced many difficulties, such as bigger brand names with more experience in the field, the costs involved and finding suppliers to provide us with smaller volumes of raw materials,” stated Mr Konstantakis.

Business boost

Nevertheless, the company posted robust business growth over the pandemic era – 20% in 2019-20, 15% in 2020-21 and a predicted 20% for 2022.

“Our customers trust and know our quality products. They are the most hand-made on the market, and we aim to be as close and as loyal to our clients as possible,” Mr Konstantakis elaborated. “We offer new products every year and these enable us to stand out from our competitors.”

He explained further: “Differentiating from competitors has been in our DNA since the 1990s when they were in mass production of puff pastry. Instead, our co-owner, including my father, invested in filo and Kataifi pastry and chilled products.

“After 12 years, we succeeded to have a 60% market share in the filo and Kataifi sectors in Greece. Those products have made us famous and, year after year, more clients come to us demanding more of these types of products.”

Moving to the new facility, featuring modern and state-of-theart automated equipment, will present new opportunities for the company to drive down costs, become even more competitive, and gain more market share.

Mr Konstantakis commented that in 2020 the company began new collaborations in the US, and sales of Evoiki Zimi’s products have since increased. Further emphasis on this key market is planned, with a potential option to open a satellite manufacturing plant there to respond to rising demand.

“We are presently focusing on a presence in smaller, local supermarket chains, but I believe in a few years we will be able to scale up further.”

New products planned

Mr Konstantakis acknowledged the export business was essential to the future of Evoiki Zimi, given that it first began with supplying products to Greek expat communities worldwide, before, around ten years ago, breaking into the mainstream.

“We are open to other cultures, and we are probably the only Greek company in our sector to invest in product packaging that is designed and written in Arabic and speaks directly to the Arabic world and grabs the attention of clients from Qatar to Bahrain.”

He said the company remains committed to using only the finest ingredients.

“We try to give other options, such as making pies with filo pastry as it is more digestible. Our flour is 100% Greek, which is our primary raw material. The quality of our goods and our approach differentiates us from competitors. We try to build for the long term and consider all clients, no matter how big or small, the same. Loyalty, transparency and being honest are the main characteristics of these relationships.”

Reflecting this healthy approach and to the changing trends in the market, Evoiki Zimi plans to launch a series of new products in 2022, with four being plant-based.

“Others will include hand-made products that can be fried, and we are also planning to appeal with the release of Mastic ice cream, using filo and Kataifi pastry as a base.

“We are also diversifying with olive oils, green and black; vegan chocolate, and soya beans and locally farmed mushrooms from Evia.” These products are planned for initial release to the domestic sector.

He added: “The company structure is flat, and there is direct communication so that ideas, knowledge and practices are easily disseminated. We have chosen to grow with steady steps, oriented towards quality, tradition and innovation. Our goal is to create value for society, for the economy, for our employees and the business.”

Mr Konstantakis concluded: “With changing times and trends, and our planned investment, we are now entering one of the most important periods in Evoiki Zimi’s history.” n