The Food & Beverage sector in Greece

In the verge of change

Despite the continuing tax and price adjustments in recent years, during 2012-2015, large companies with annual revenues over €10bn retained their positive momentum and became more extrovert.
 

Competitiveness

• In terms of size, the typical Food & Beverage (F&B) company is relatively small with €30mn in revenues and roughly 140 employees, as opposed to the corresponding European average of more than €60mn and 200 employees.
• The sector managed to remain competitive at the end of the crisis, with only 27% of the companies classified as “Zombies” (based on PwC's Stars & Zombies competitiveness analysis), while “Stars” contribute 50% of total profitability.
• Three sub-sectors stand out in terms of competitiveness, with total revenues of around €2bn (fruit & vegetables, canning and alcoholic beverages), while fisheries and red meat are lagging behind in competitiveness (total revenues of €640mn).

Exports

• Five sub-sectors are more extrovert (oils, fruits & vegetables, fisheries, nuts & currants and canning), exporting over 50% of their total production.
• During 2012-2015, the F&B exports rose by 26%, mainly attributed to only two sectors, oils and dairy products.

The structural weaknesses of the F&B sector in Greece are summarised in their small size and market failures.
In order to create a critical mass that will facilitate exports, sectoral aggregation should be applied in the form of an umbrella of brands that will share skills and services for success in the fields of marketing/ sales, R&D, supply and logistics.

Read the report in Greek HERE