THE COMPANY FROM KAVALA THAT BREAKS THE RECORD IN EXPORTS



26.02.2017

The Natural Stones and Raw Materials Expansion Company managed to increase its exports by 68% in 2016, from 16% in 2010.

We want, we do not want to solve the crisis for many Greek companies, unfortunately not within the Greek borders but abroad. In a Greece that eats her children like Saturn, there are few business plans that have invested in exports with success and sometimes not so well. In the first category belongs a group based in Kavala and activity in the production and trade of natural rocks, a company that chose not to follow its beaten exit in other Balkan countries as it kept its production within borders, simply changing its trade mix. It is no accident, therefore, that Akrolitos SA, with exports of 16% of its total turnover in 2010, six years later, it was found to export 68% of its total production while increasing its sales by 290%. And all this with an investment and development plan of € 3 million only for the current year, based on an expansion of existing infrastructure and machinery to further increase the company's performance when its core line in the natural stone industry needs renewal. According to Mr. Giannis Hadjisavvas, CEO and successor of the company after its creator and father of George Hadjisavva, Akropolite currently employs 60-70 people at its headquarters in Kavia Kavala, in an area of ​​80 acres. Production focuses mainly on slate and pebbles. One of the most widespread products of the company internationally is the Thassos pebble. It also has quarries with independent staff. One of the best known is the Kavala shale, which is produced in various forms and is renowned for its hardness and quality. At present, Akrolitos ABEE exports to 78 countries, with a huge customer base. Indicatively, he has a presence across Europe in the Middle East, with emphasis on Dubai, the Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Australia and New Zealand, Japan and Hong Kong, the US, and a series Latin American and Central American countries such as Canada, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and the Bahamas, as well as North Africa. "In the last 3 years our company has participated in 23 international exhibitions in countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, USA. We have ISO quality, hygiene and safety certificates as well as CE for some products, while as the top distinction in 2015 we received the European Business Awards 2015/16 National Champion, Greek Export Awards Gold-Top Industrial Export, Silver-Top Greek Export Company 2016 "Says the Group's Chief Executive Officer. And all this is a group from northern Greece that maintains one of the largest and most organized natural rock showrooms worldwide, being for many customers a standard and under its mark presents the Akromar, Deco Uni and Chatzisavvas marbles and mosaics. And of course we are talking about a company that has equipped five-star hotels in Hawaii, palace princes in Dubai or luxury residences in Switzerland with a material produced by Greek nature, the famous slate of Kavala. The 32-year-old Yannis Hadjisavvas is already a worthy successor to his father, as his administration managed to significantly expand the company. Having graduated in Business Administration, he gradually worked in all departments of the company, from production, sales and retailing to marketing design etc. The headline of this effort was the recent two-time award at Acropolis at the 5th Greek Exports Awards 2016. The a company from Kavala took the golden seat in the category Top Greek Export Company 2016. The story of Akrolithos, the world's leading home-grown natural stone business, has begun by chance. George Chatzisavvas, after his studies, turned to Kavala for a short time to see what he would do. He wanted to work in a multinational, but fate had other plans. In fact, the quarry at the quarries eventually became for almost 40 years the normal - and very profitable - job. His supplementary work began in 1979, as the entrepreneur proceeded to the first shale extraction from the Paggaio area. What the businessman started to start to secure his pocket money turned into an unexpected success. This success had to do with the development of building activity in a Greece that knew growth. Soon the Northwest entrepreneur realizes that simple rock mining is not enough. For this reason, it extends to the processing of raw material and other natural rocks from various regions of the country and abroad. Already since the 1990s, the company has consolidated its market presence and created the conditions for exports. Nowadays Akrolithos is an integrated unit with modern treatment facilities, exhibition spaces and offices of 60.000 sq.m. This productive dynamics and continued investment led her to become the largest company in the sector in Greece and one of the strongest in the European market, competing even with the loud Italian names - because in Italy there is the biggest competition for the Greek Kavala's companies, Akrolithos has managed to own three privately-owned quarries in the area of ​​Paggeo, over 500,000 square meters, from which the stone of Kavala (Akrobouni) is mined. These quarries make extraction of slate (Kavala) and sandstone. But quickly, the Greek George Hadjisavvas perceives the limited possibilities of the Greek market and the problems that would be caused by the decline of the construction and the economic crisis in general. That's how it is looking dynamically in order to create the conditions to export, resulting in the company's current growth.