Where could Grandma Marika, the grandmother of the three Agadaki brothers from Samos, when she made her refreshing homemade lemonades for them, that one day her simple idea would become business and her face would become the trademark of the traditional Gia… giamas soft drinks. Who knew then that the tastes and smells that marked the childhood summers of the three brothers, Konstantinos, Zafeiris and Giorgos, would become the impetus that led them to the creation of Gia… giamas soft drinks.
The history of traditional Gia… giamas soft drinks goes back many years, when the three brothers were children and were looking forward to enjoying their iced lemonade from their grandmother's hands. This memory of children's tastes and the unrepeatable carelessness of those years became the connecting link with the present. And by clicking on grandma's recipes they created Gia… giamas juices and soft drinks. Honoring grandmother Marika from Karlovasi, and combining the generous "hello" of Greek culture.
The activity of the Agadaki family in the field of coffee is more than twenty years old, with the company Barista Pro having a constant presence since 1997 in the industry. Gia… giamas products, since the last additions to its codes, were created and released on the market in 2015. And as is often the case, where love, professionalism, passion, passion, creativity and innovation meet, there is no recognition is slow to come. In the summer of 2018 the efforts of the people of Barista Pro, the company behind them Gia… giamas, were awarded 2 Gold Stars by the International Institute of Taste and Quality (ITQI), in Brussels, for the lemonade. In the summer of 2019, it was the turn of the Peach Gia… giamas, which was also honored with 2 Gold Stars, but also of Barista Pro, which was awarded the Top Beverages Supplier recognition at the Coffee Business Award 2019.
And everything shows that the dynamic presence of the Agadaki family business will continue.
The Agadaki family listened to the shift to natural products, but also to the need, especially in times of crisis, to highlight and utilize Greek production. Thus, the soft drinks and Gia… giamas juices, with the nostalgic mood that awakens childhood memories in the older ones and "educates" the younger ones in homemade flavors, are 100% natural and Greek products, made from Greek fruits.
In fact, they follow the seasonality of their raw material. For example, the mandarin is offered from October to March, while in summer the "corresponding" flavors are available: lemonade, strawberry with lemon, peach, green apple with pomegranate and from the summer of 2020 and the "Greek feast", a combination of nine fruit.
This stormy and bizarre summer, with the coronavirus pandemic putting everyone's lives in a new context, Barista Pro adapts to the new conditions and proposes the model of a new project with the new line of bottles, which has been tested in the markets of Rhodes, Samos, Lesvos and Kos with great success and offers the consumer a feeling of greater security.
Each bottle of lemonade contains 54 lemons, each bottle of peach 43 peaches, the tangerine 180 tangerines. With the addition of water or soda and ice, the traditional taste-inspiration of grandmother Marika travels from Karlovasi to every glass, to every corner of Greece and abroad where Gia… giamas products are available.
In Greece, one can find Gia… giamas products in over 1.500 places, while abroad the family business of the Agadakis brothers is already present in countries such as Germany, Italy, Qatar, England and Romania.
For the three brothers, passion-love-emotion is the triptych of success, while the personal goal of Konstantinos Agadakis, the company's sales manager, is for Gia… giamas to be found all over the world at some point. And as she confesses with a lot of humor, Grandma Marika, who becomes famous in a way, has a very funny and completely "Greek" concern.
-You are the first of the brothers who entered the kitchen and started experimenting with the grandmother's recipe. How did this first idea come about? Were there moments of frustration when you thought that this effort might not lead anywhere?
Really anxious spirit from a young age but also a lover of tradition, I experimented based on the advice of grandmother Marika. The idea came from the grandmother herself who in our childhood, made the best lemonade that existed at that time, exciting every guest but also all our friends at our then children's parties. Because we are optimistic and believe in our potential, we have never been disappointed and to this day we look at the forest and not the tree.
- What is it like when family relationships extend to the workplace? How is the work where three brothers work together?
Three words: Passion - Love - Emotion, equal to Success. The work runs flawlessly and is divided into 3 areas. In the commercial-marketing where I lead, in the quality control where Zafeiris directs and in the financial one where Giorgos directs. The joint effort is the guide of our whole philosophy. Apart from us who bring some ideas, we also have a group of kids who really love the product just like us and all of us are constantly evolving without ever being complacent.
- Business in the economic environment of Greece, and especially in the time of the deepest crisis, is reminiscent of a "dangerous mission". How bold is a business venture like yours and what obstacles did it face?
We are indeed experiencing a period of deep crisis, but this makes us even bolder, because as Aristotle Onassis used to say "The crisis makes Croesus". Our Greece is a country rich in excellent products produced by mother earth. With people who give their sweat every day to get the best result in fruit which we buy from them. Our obstacles were, as is usual in Greece, the bureaucracy and the big companies that "snubbed" our product.
- Gia… giamas are products 100% natural and 100% Greek. Why did you make this choice?
Our choice, as mentioned above, is to support the Greek economy and of course our 100% trust in Greek producers. Greece is currently at the center of global developments in both food and drink, having made huge strides in improving the product, packaging and price and above all the acceptance of foreigners in what is considered Greek.
-You have said that the first export of Gia… giamas soft drinks was made by an Italian tourist who tasted them in Rhodes. Then how did the expansion abroad, in such an unfavorable situation?
The competition abroad is indeed huge. The effort we made was to convince more and more Europeans that our products are governed by Innovation - Diversification and Tradition. The truth is that there is a general distrust of Greece, perhaps due to mistakes made in the past. This becomes a pressure vise for better prices.
-The base of Barista Pro is Samos, where you live. The first launch of Gia… giamas soft drinks took place there. How did the expansion take place in the rest of Greece? Is it more difficult to start from the periphery?
Due to our relationship with the catering market and our very good relations with the people of the market nationwide, our partners showed confidence from the first moment and played a catalytic role in the spread of the product throughout Greece and with special love, because our starting point was the periphery.
-Taking an account, how do you judge the course of Gia… giamas products and how do you imagine their next steps? What is your goal?
We are very pleased, primarily for the International Awards that our products have received from iTQi (International Institute of Taste and Quality) in 2018 and 2019, as well as for the ongoing consumer demand for the Gia… giamas brandname. My personal goal is for Gia… giamas to be found all over the Earth at some point!
-What does Grandma Marika say that her recipe - although secret - and her face travel the world by car Gia… giamas products?
Here I will tell you something that made me laugh, at one point my grandmother called me and said to me "my child, I am very proud of everything you have managed to do and you really give me years of life, I just have a hesitation, I do not believe now that I will become famous if my pension is cut! "