Food and Agricultural Trends in Greece

Greece is a small European country composed of a mainland territory on the southern Balkans and a multitude of islands throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Alongside Turkey, Greece serves as the bridge between Europe and the Middle East. With a total territory of over 130.000 square kilometers, Greece is somewhat smaller than Alabama. Greece’s geography is composed of volcanic and mountainous ranges alongside more than 2.000 scattered islands and numerous ports. The country’s total population is of almost 11 million citizens and its climate, like its staple diet, is very Mediterranean. More than 75% of Greece’s population is urban and approximately a third lives in the capital metropolitan area around Athens. Currently, the Greek annual gross domestic product (GDP) equals about US$290 billion. However, the country has undergone sluggish and even negative economic growth since the 2008 global financial crisis. The Greek national economy is divided into 5% agriculture, 15% manufacturing, and 80% services. However, the agriculture industry utilizes about 64% of the national territory, while another 31% is forested. Likewise, Greece’s agricultural industry employs 13% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs about 15% and services employ another 72%.

In terms of natural resources, Greece has lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnetite, marble, salt, and hydropower potential. Within the manufacturing industry, Greece produces tobacco, textiles, chemicals, metal products, processed foods, minerals, and petroleum. Similarly, a large sector of the national economy is dependent on the tourism industry. Meanwhile, Greece’s agricultural industry has as main products wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes, beef, and dairy products. In 1981, Greece became a member of the European Union and the country adopted the Euro as its official currency in 2001. This article explores the status of agricultural and food retail markets in Greece.

Food and Agricultural Trends in Greece

In terms of trade, Greece’s main partners are fellow EU members, particularly Germany, Italy, Cyprus, France, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. Likewise, in recent years, many Greek citizens have left the country in the search for new economic opportunities, while more than 1 million refugees have arrived into the country due to regional crises. Meanwhile, the Greek food and agriculture industry has evolved substantially throughout the last few decades. Between 1990 and 1998, 33% of the average Greek diet consisted of cereals, roots, and tubers. By 2011, this percentage had decreased to 30% and the trend is expected to continue downwards.

Similarly, the domestic cereals market in Greece has evolved during the last half century. During the early 1960s, Greece devoted approximately 1.7 million hectares of land to the production of cereals and produced between 2.1 and 3.3 million metric tons annually. In 2014, Greece devoted 1 million hectares of land to cereals production and yielded some 4.3 million metric tons. Finally, Greece has a large food processing and retail foods production industry that has reoriented itself towards export markets given the domestic slowdown. Today, the Greek food processing industry is valued at more than US$10 billion annually throughout more than 13.000 companies and enterprises operating nationally.

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