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Figuratively, the economic crisis has put the Greeks on a diet as they began to consume significantly less feta. That reads an article in Imerisia Newspaper, which refers to the manufacturers of the sector. They registered a decline in revenue in the last year, which is not only due to higher taxes and government fees, but also to reduced consumption. "We did not believe that the crisis could affect the consumption of feta so much and the eating habits of people as a whole, given that white cheese is present at the table of every Greek," say producers. Their estimate shows that the sales of the typical Greek feta cheese have declined by 6%, which is an unprecedented downturn.

As national product, the consumption of feta and yellow cheese in Greece is the largest compared with any other part of the world. The average annual consumption of feta per capita is estimated at about 12 kg per person and the average yellow cheese consumption reaches 25 kg per year. After the height of the crisis, people in Greece have stopped going out to taverns and restaurants, which is the reason for the lower consumption of dairy products. Currently, the manufacturers in the industry rely on the tourist period, which is directly linked to increased consumption in restaurants. "Food and drink are always linked with tourism and holidays," say the producers hoping that the negative trend would break.

The stagnant domestic market made manufacturers turn to the foreign markets, so that they could sell their goods, but also keep the volume of profits. In this context, entrepreneurs are turning to countries outside the old continent. They say Europe is a "lost cause" because the competition is very high, the purchasing prices are low and only major supermarket chains benefit from the sale of feta. There is an increasing interest in the purely Greek product mainly by the USA, Canada and Australia, but new trade corridors to China and other Asian countries are opened too.

According to the Institute for Economic and Industrial Studies the drop in the consumption of some foodstuffs reached even 25%. 94% of the Greeks have changed their shopping patterns given the fiscal consolidation, the higher taxes and the lower wages, Antenna reported. Seven in every ten people are spending money directly related to the household needs and 60% of them are looking for cheaper goods than previously preferred. Apparently, the situation is not so desperate yet because 73% of the respondents said they put money aside for new clothes.