No matter how unlikely, the company with the biggest sales of Feta in Greece is still a Cooperative! As the mapping carried out by the Competition Commission in the market reveals, the undisputed leader in the market is the Agricultural Cooperative of Kalavryta, contrary to the general perception that there was a "duel" between "Optima" (Epirus) of the Panteliadis family and "Dodoni" of CVC. The feta from Kalavryta took the largest share of the sales of 249 million euros made through the networks of the country's 11 largest supermarket chains.
According to the data submitted by the 11 chains to the Competition Commission, it appears that the Agricultural Cooperative of Kalavryta, with its "flagship" the barrel-aged Feta it produces, controls 15-20% of the market both in terms of value and quantity. The interesting element here is that in essence the success of the Kalavryta Agricultural Cooperative is based on the large and efficient network of "Sklavenitis" stores, since its products are available exclusively in "Sklavenitis Greek Supermarkets"!
It is followed by "Optima" SA of the Panteliadis family with the well-known brand "Epiros", collecting 10-15% of the total sales of Feta. The third "power" is the Dairy Industry "Dodoni" with a share of 10-15% in the value of total sales and 5-10% in volume.
In fact, regarding the evolution of the shares of the three largest Feta suppliers during the period in which the research was conducted (1/2/2023 – 30/6/2024), "Optima" managed to increase its share from approximately 5-10% to approximately 10-15% but showing fluctuations. On the contrary, the share of "Dodoni" decreased from about 10-15% to 5-10%.
After that follow the companies: "Valmas", "Simos Food", "Dabizas", "Hellenic Dairies", "A.VI.GAL", "First Quality", "Nik. Tsatsoulis", "Tripolios Dairy", "Milk Industry of Lesvos", and "Karalis" with a 5% or less share of the market. In fact, according to the mapping, four of them, namely "Dabizas", "Valmas", "Simos Food" and "Hellenic Dairies", appear to have gradually increased their shares, mainly within 2024.
In total, the 13 above suppliers, according to the Competition Commission, represent 70% of all Feta sales in the country. The remaining 30% is controlled by approximately 135 smaller suppliers. Therefore, as the Competition Commission observes, "from the number of suppliers and the arrangement of shares it can be seen that the supply market for Supermarkets in Feta is characterized by low concentration".
Branded product vs Private Label
According to the research, the consumer prefers to buy a branded product. In particular, 80% of sales in 2023 concerned branded Feta and 20% Private Label products. However, during the survey (2/2023-6/2024) the shift towards private label products was evident. A trend that continued in the first half of 2024.
Specifically over a period of almost one and a half years (1/2/23-31/6/2024), the volume of sales of branded products decreased from approximately 85% at the beginning of the period under review, to 79% at the end of it, respectively the volume of sales of products private label increased from 15% to around 21%.
The top 12 suppliers account for 73% of all Feta sales by value, while in private label Feta the top 13 account for 93%.
In Private Label, the industry's 13 largest "players" accounted for 93% of total PL sales. "King of the Private Label" was crowned the company "H. Dabizas" which is also the most important supplier controlling 15-20% both in terms of value and volume of sales.
They are followed by the "Milk Industry of Lesvos" and the "Dairy of Tripoli" (10-15% in terms of value and quantity). In the continuation of the ranking there are 5 companies with a range of shares between 5-10% in terms of value and quantity. In particular, these are: "Hellenic Dairies", "Avramoulis", "Simos Food", "L.A. Farm", and "Eurofarm".
