Vivartia’s portfolio of cheese products, products with much greater profitability and export prospects, has been significantly expanded with the acquisition of 70% of the cheese company Kourellas SA. located in Grevin. At the same time, with this move, Vivartia enters the growing category of plant-based cheese products, as until now it has only been present in drinks and desserts. At the same time, it actually resumes the production of yellow cheeses, since in 2019 it entered into an agreement with Optima (owned by Stefanos Panteliadis) for the production of the latter yellow cheeses – caseri and semi-hard.

Kurellas SA, the current Chairman and Managing Director Sotiris Kurellas, will continue to “work” as CEO, and in the next stage, a decision will be made on the preemptive right to purchase the remaining 30% of the cheese factory from Grevena. Moreover, this is all part of the wider decision to pull the CVC fund out of Vivartia. With the signing of the definitive agreement in the coming weeks, since the preliminary agreement to acquire 70% of Curella was signed late last night, Vivartia will immediately become the owner of this percentage. This is because, since the annual turnover of the cheese business is less than 15 million euros, no prior approval from the Competition Commission is required.

“Kourellas” started operations in 1960 and moved to larger facilities in 1985. In 1996, it was the first company to produce organic dairy products. In 2009, he set up a plant for the production of non-genetically modified animal feed, and in 2013 he opened the Mia Feta – Feta Bar store in Thessaloniki, where consumers can buy products and also enjoy them in the same room. The store also sells online.

With this move, it enters the growing category of plant-based cheese products.

The cheese factory is located on a plot of 15 acres and has an area of ​​4000 sq.m. The feed mill has an area of ​​3000 sq.m. and is located on an area of ​​10 acres, while the company also has an organic farm of 4000 sq.m. on a 30 acre lot. Regarding the planning of Vivartia for Mia Feta – Feta Bar, sources in the company told Catimerini that the prospect of its development will be assessed and the opening of new points of sale in the so-called closed markets (shopping centers, airports) is not ruled out. . After all, Vivartia has the relevant know-how from its catering business.

In 2021, Curella had a turnover of €12.5 million and an earnings before taxes, interest and depreciation (EBITDA) of €1.5 million. It is worth noting that 90% of the company’s sales are exported, while its products are exported to Europe, America and the Arab countries. “This is a high value-added business,” he stressed. talking to “K” Vivartia CEO Thanasis Papanicolaou.

It is noted that according to the research company NielsenIQ, 33% of Greeks buy and consume at least one category of plant products daily or weekly. Plant-based cheese has the highest penetration, with 4 in 10 Greeks consuming daily, with 27% eating plant-based yogurt daily and 20% drinking plant-based “milk”. So far, Vivartia has not had a presence in the vegetable “cheese” category, even indirectly through Dodoni (of which the CVC fund is a major shareholder), as the continental dairy industry has only been active in the plant-based dessert category. . Even Vivartia’s biggest competitor, Hellenic Dairies, does not make plant-based cheeses, and the biggest “player” in this category in Greece is Arivia, which was acquired by Upfield in 2019 with KKR fund as a major shareholder.