Zanae

ZANAE

THE BEST OF GREEK TASTES

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ZANAE SA

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PROFILE

Z ZANAE, a Greek company with roots going back to the 1930s, has a clear mission – to provide global consumers with the very best that Greece has to offer in terms of its cuisine. “Whatever the changes over the years, we have remained steadfastly committed to a basic principle: to deliver you the best, finest quality products,” said Marketing Director Antonios Tzikas. Romana Moares reports.

ANAE is one of the largest and fastest-growing food companies in Greece. In 1930, the family-owned business began operating in Thessaloniki as a bakery yeast producer, and over the years has expanded production to include canned goods, ready to serve meals and processed tomato.

“The 1950s were an important decade for the company in terms of product range expansion, followed later on by pioneering ready-made meals of Greek origin within the Comfort Line,” said Marketing Director Antonios Tzikas. “The business grew further in the 1970s, when agriculture was booming in northern Greece, presenting a good opportunity for the company to develop a tomato processing facility in that region.”

The new millennium brought with it international expansion: the company has estab-

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lished an international joint venture, where it now manufactures some of its products outside of Greece. While its main location continues to be in Thessaloniki, the company now also operates a network of satellite production facilities in northern Greece.

Today, ZANAE products are exported to over 50 countries. A large percentage of the company’s turnover comes from exports to Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, the Middle and Far East. Thus, people from different corners of the world get the chance to savour the most tasty, most healthy Greek dishes of the finest quality, as they would have if they had visited the country itself.

The Greek spirit 90 years on, yeast remains one of ZANAE’s main product groups; one which is very much appreciated in the Greek market, and delivered to fresh-food bakeries around the country.

“As the only bakery yeast producer in Greece, we know what bakers need. ZANAE is the leader in the Greek market, scoring high marks with bakers abroad as well,” said Mr Tzikas.

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The other groups have also grown as well over the last few years. Some five years ago, the company included green olives in its offering, another product associated with Greek gastronomy, famous for its excellent quality. ZANAE’s olive range includes all the varieties and flavours grown on Greek soil, ready to reach those wanting to taste the very best Greece has to offer. Other recent additions include readymade pasta sauces, again offered with typical Greek ingredients – such as added ouzo, olives and feta cheese.

Still, the two products lines that have won the company global fame in the readymade food range are the vine leaves stuffed with rice, and giant beans in tomato sauce.

These two lines are synonymous with ZANAE, affirmed Mr Tzikas, pointing out that they are successfully sold in supermarket chains in many countries, from Germany and France, to Australia and the United States.

Rooted in nature Partnership with the farming community is clearly very important for final product quality and ZANAE fosters strong, stable

relationships with the growers, striving to source as much as possible locally.

“Our produce, such as tomatoes, is selected according to the strictest criteria. Each day, we carefully select the most mature, most “deserving” of Greek tomatoes. The same approach applies to all the other products. Each of our dishes represents a tradition on the Greek table, and our packaging maintains flavours unchanged without the use of preservatives, simply through natural additives such as oil.”

Following the European and national guidelines, the company applies the most modern quality assurance methods.

Operating to international production standards, the company is BRC, IFS and ISO 22000 certified. Furthermore, ZANAE’s products have earned the ‘Green Dot’ symbol (Der Grüne Punkt), the Dual System European programme that acknowledges companies with ecological awareness and awards its trademark only to those that have recyclable packaging and can prove their environmentally friendly credentials.

Family values “The last two years of the global pandemic have brought with them some challenges but generally speaking the business has remained stable and robust. While the food sector was slow initially, retail increased considerably, and overall, our sales have increased during the pandemic,” said Mr Tzikas.

“However, many things have happened over the last few years, highlighting bottlenecks the sector will need to deal with in order to move on. One of them is the need to increase warehousing capacity, to overcome abnormalities such as the current disruption in the supply chains.”

Increased warehousing capacity is one of the company’s objectives, together with increased production capacity to meet demand. Investment has also been made in R&D, and a range of organic ready-made meals is due to be launched soon.

Packaging is another important topic.

At FOOD EXPO in Athens held in March 2022, the company launched a new range of products presented in novel plastic trays that are shelf stable for 18 months.

“Plastics is a big thing at the moment.

Although the food sector cannot do without plastics, there are ways to make plastics more environmentally-friendly,” suggested Mr Tzikas. “We have been looking at mono plastic solutions for our food products that are eco-friendly and can be easily recycled.

That is the way to go.”

In closing, Mr Tzikas further confirmed that a synergy of Greek tradition and innovation is the recipe for further business growth.

“We continue to be a family business, now in the hands of the third generation, and the owners are very much involved in the business, determined to pass the legacy on to future generations. This family touch is very important in the food industry; the extra care, passion and commitment is what has made us strong and will continue to do so.” n

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