New deal in Greek food sector: DELTA acquires Kourellas

DELTA (Vivartia group) is proceeding with the acquisition of 70% of the shares of the Kourellas company, making a dynamic entry into organic dairy products. 30% of the company will remain in the possession of the Kourellas family.

About a month after the sale of the Bulgarian United Milk Corporation to the Hellenic Dairies group of the Sarantis family, CVC Capital Partners, owner of Vivartia, is unfolding its overall plan to move DELTA into the new era.

As OT had written, the strengthening of the position of DELTA, which occupies a leading position in the domestic dairy products and food market, passes through acquisitions, hence the new deal.

From sheep pens in Grevena to kitchens across the globe

Kourellas, based in Grevena, is the first organic dairy in Greece and almost 90% of its sales go abroad.

At the moment, the products of the Grevenio dairy company, which is under the control of DELTA, “travel” to America, Italy, Switzerland, England, Germany.

It should be noted that the company’s export journey began 37 years ago with Sokratis Kourellas, who is also a pharmacist, sending his feta to America for the first time.

Pioneer in organic dairy

The family business started from a small cheese factory in the 1960s by Christos Kourellas, father of the two brothers, Sokratis and Theodoros.

In 1985 it moved to new modern facilities and the company took its current form in 1992, when Kourellas SA was founded, as a continuation of the pre-existing general partnership.

In 1996 it made the business move that changes her course forever.

It is the first Greek company active in the production of organic dairy products, trading in Greece and Europe, under the brand name BIOPAN, using the German Naturland specifications, as in Greece at that time there were no standards and regulations for animal organic products.

At the same time, in order to ensure the quality of the produced products, the Kourellas family created a separate animal feed factory (Trofipan A.E.), through which it also supplies the livestock farmers cooperating with the company.

Mia Feta

In 2013, the company, with the aim of consolidating the presence of feta, and making it more widely known to consumers, began to operate in the food service sector, establishing the store, Mia Feta Feta Bar on Pavlou Mela Street in the center of Thessaloniki.

The company continues to stand out in the dairy industry by producing six of the 21 PDO Greek cheeses (feta, kasseri, kefalograviera, batzo, anevato and manouri), while it has an organic cattle farm with 240 cows and a farm with 400 sheep, also organic.

The company has a cheese factory of 4,000 sq.m. on an area of ​​1.5 hectares, feed factory 3,000 sq.m. on an area of ​​one hectare and an organic farm of 4,000 sq.m. in an area of ​​3 hectares.

The company’s range consists largely of organic and plant-based products.

Turnover of 12.5 million euros

Kourellas’ turnover for 2021 amounted to 12.5 million euros with EBITDA at 1.5 million euros.

During FY 2020 (this is the last published balance sheet) the turnover of Kourellas amounted to 8,889,612 euros against the amount of 6,748,884 euros related to the corresponding income for the 2019 financial year.