naftemporiki
42% of the Americans are not sure that they have seen Greek products on the shelves of local supermarkets and only one out of every 100 respondents can associate Greece with a specific product. These are just some of the data collected by the poll institute Kairos Consumer. The analysis was conducted on behalf of the Panhellenic Exporters Association and was focused on four traditional Greek products of the food industry – olive oil, feta, olives and wine.
The main conclusions of the study show that Greek feta is the most popular of the four presented products and the wine of the Mediterranean country is world unknown. The question "What do you think when you hear of a product made in Greece" ranks first the feta with 60%, olive oil is the second with 52%, olives are third with 23% and 18% think of Greek yoghurt. Wine does not even appear as a typical Greek product. If the brand of a typical Greek product (branding) should be named, 11% of the Americans think of FAGE yoghurt produced in northern Greece and 3% think of the most popular Greek beer Mythos.
Among connoisseurs of Greek products in the U.S.A, 39% consume feta, 37% love the taste of Greek olives, 28% use olive oil and only 11% have tasted Greek wine. 12% of the consumers say that the wine is hard to find in American stores, another 11% think it is similar in quality and taste with wines produced in Mediterranean Europe and 2% say it is similar to other table wines. The Greek olives compete on the American market with products from Italy and Spain. The most popular and loved Greek olives are those from the town of Kalamata as 23% of the respondents recognized them. Better are the results of the olive oil as 70% of the Americans surveyed think the Greek product is the best.
The study shows that nevertheless Greece remains popular for its history, culture and tourism. One third of the respondents think that the recent economic crisis has hurt the country's image, and 36% of the Americans say they have positive attitude towards Greece irregardless of the recent events. Other 38% have no opinion on the matter.
"The new era requires new measures to promote Greek exports and present Greek products on international markets," said the President of the Panhellenic Exporters Association Christina Sakellaridis. She emphasized that old presentation tools related only to participation in trade fairs and business missions are ineffective. According to Sakelaridi, the Greek government and the private sector should cooperate to create a common platform that combines the familiar patterns with modern practices. The message should reach the end user directly and Greek products should gain greater market share.