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Anastasia Balezdrova

Recently, the word "innovation" has been one of the most commonly used in public space, usually in connection with news in the field of new technologies. However, there may be innovation in other areas and the product of Koutsioftis farm is the best proof of this.

At first glance, this cattle breeding farm for beef production seems like every other farm but actually, it is not. The cattle bred there listen to classical music and eat food mixed with herbs. The result is beef of high nutritional value, without toxins and rich in omega-3 fatty acids, for which the farm has received a patent and several national and European awards.

Koutsioftis farm

"My brother and I are the second generation of beef producers. Our father established the farm in 1976 and we have continuously developed this activity ever since.

The innovation in our work dates back to 2008 when we decided to start the production of different meat, with higher nutritional value and higher content of omega-3 fatty acids. We turned to the Veterinary Institute of Thessaloniki Aristotle University, where the researchers worked for two years," Stergios Koutsioftis told GRReporter.

"Aroma'', aromatic beef

"During the study, the cattle ate food enriched with different herbs such as oregano, mint, basil, coriander, and with flaxseed among others. The result was very tender beef, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, with pronounced flavour.

We gradually realized that developing a good product would require not only good food but also the correct genetic material. Therefore, we decided that we would work only with French breeds and our focus would be meat production. The other thing to which we had to pay special attention was the living conditions of the animals.

For this purpose, we have built a new building where the cleanliness of the cattle is strictly observed. Moreover, they listen to classical music. Thus they are calm which prevents the release of toxins into their bodies."

The product was patented and received a certificate for innovation. "In February 2013 we received an innovation award from the Ministry of Rural Development. Last year, the farm was among the 500 companies that received the European Business Award", added Stergios Koutsioftis.

The meat produced by the farm is sold in Athens, Volos and Corfu, and the ambition of the owners is to create a distribution network throughout the country.

Diffusion of the idea

"Since our farm is not able to respond to the huge interest, we have organised a group of meat producers in our region who buy the same cattle, feed them with the same food and breed them in the same conditions." The farms are united under the common name "Omega", the ultimate goal of the producers being to target their products to foreign markets.

Koutsioftis brothers decided to specialise in the manufacture of a new product, mainly due to the need to differentiate themselves from other manufacturers. "The other reason was the wrong information, according to us, that beef was more harmful to the human body compared to other types of meat. Our goal was to change that opinion and I think our efforts have yielded results."

The cost of production of the enriched beef called "Aroma" is about 10 percent higher than the cost of production of conventional beef. The price paid by the consumers is 15-20 percent higher. In return, they however obtain beef with 3-4 times higher content of omega-3 fatty acids that are healthy for the human body and its organoleptic properties (taste, flavour, texture) are very specific.

According to Stergios Koutsioftis, the economic crisis has affected the farm too. "However, we have regular customers who prefer to pay 5 euro more per week (for about 2 kg of beef) to provide their families with quality food." The farm is considering ways to export their products to the Bulgarian market.