The Hindu Business Line : Greek flavour wafts over Asia, India

Heraklion (Greece) June 11 The Greek have always prided themselves on their traditional food and wine industry. The care and attention Greek farmers, producers, chefs and housewives bestow in preparing Greek gastronomic delights was brought home at the second Kerasma Greek Mediterranean Gastronomy conference held during the weekend at Heraklion, Crete Island, Greece.

About 230 delegates — food and wine traders, specialty food store owners, chefs, sommeliers, and journalists — from 15 countries such as the US, Canada, France, Australia, Japan, India, China, and so on, participated in the three-day conference organised by HEPO (Hellenic Foreign Trade Board), which included an exhibition showcasing the best of Greek products such as cheeses, olives, olive oil, wine and spirits.

At the event, a special effort was made to promote Greek wine, both at the opening dinner organised at a little village about 25 km from Heraklion town, where the village women prepared a traditional feast for the Kerasma (a Greek word for treat or offering, referring specially to an offering of food and wine), participants, where different kinds of Greek wine, and the much stronger Raki, were on offer.

Living it up

As Yorgas Papapanayotou, Head of the Promotions and Events Division of HEPO, put it, "Wine forms an important component of the Greek Mediterranean diet, and Greece has a per capita wine consumption of 30 litres, which is lower than 55 litres of the past." The French, he says, have the highest per capita wine consumption at around 60 litres.

Tania Avloniti, a spokesperson of HEPO, explained that Kerasma is the branded name of a promotional programme initiated by HEPO, under the aegis of the Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance, to support and advance Greek food, wine and spirits abroad.

"The programme is aimed at foreign importers and buyers, food and wine trade professionals, chefs and restaurateurs, consumers and the media. Through these conferences we want to convey the sense of expansive hospitality for which the Greek people are famous."

Papapanayotou said that while the US, Canada and Australia are important importers of Greek food and wine, this year the effort was also to target markets in Asia such as Japan, China and India, as also South Africa.

"We are not a rich country like Italy or Spain to have big promotions for our food, wine and spirits industry. This conference is supported by the Greek Government in a very big way, with Greek companies contributing in a small way."

As for Greek restaurants, he said while there are top-notch Greek restaurants in the US, Canada and Australia, in some European countries such as Germany, these are "not of excellent quality. In an effort to cut down prices, they compromise on the quality of the ingredients, which is not good for Greek cuisine."

Indian market

On the Indian market, he said apart from targetting the Indian market for "our table olives, and olive oil — 90 per cent of which is extra virgin," HEPO is also engaged in efforts to export high quality wines to India. When it comes to cheap wines, countries such as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, can do better than us. But when it comes to high quality wines, our industry is certain that we have a huge advantage on quality."

The proof of the pudding is in the eating... or the drinking, and the huge varieties of wines showcased at the opening and concluding dinners, as well as during a visit to the wineries of Santorini, a breathtakingly beautiful island, were adequate testimony.

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