Dynamic growth prospects for the mastihashops chain with new investment funds from Attica Ventures and the Tsakos Group

12 December 2006

New horizons are opening for the very successful chain of mastihashops, with an injection of 2 million euros worth of new share capital. This increase, which took place in the framework of the company's second round of money-raising, was underwritten by existing shareholders Attica Ventures (a venture capital fund subsidiary of the Bank of Attica) and the Tsakos Group.

Mediterra SA (which operates the mastihashops) was set up by the Chios Mastiha Growers Association (CMGA) in 2002 as a vehicle for showcasing and promoting the many possible ways of using mastiha through innovative and inventive products and actions.

The fact that mastiha is produced only on the island of Chios constitutes a unique natural advantage, which the creation of the company has made it possible to exploit more fully. Within a very short space of time the company has succeeded in:

- opening 11 mastihashops (in Greece, Cyprus and Paris) and setting up a gourmet products plant in Chios (a €1 million investment).
- creating new and unique mastiha-based products, the result of a combination of years of research, and selecting business partnerships to ensure product quality. It is worth pointing out that since 2003 the company has been carrying out a whole series of research programmes, both in collaboration with various European universities and within the CMGA's own very good R&D division.

The innovative approach demonstrated by the company on all levels (business model, product line, R&D, packaging, marketing, communication) is confirmed by the more than 15 distinctions and awards that it has amassed in its mere 4 years of existence, among them a ranking as one of Greece's 10 most innovative businesses (Panteios School of Economics survey, 2006) and first place in the 2005 EBGE� awards.

As Attica Ventures Managing Director Yannis Papadopoulos says,"......the CMGA and its mastihashops are a very special example and pioneering model of business partnership and innovation, and proof that the Greek provinces are by no means lacking in remarkable business initiatives. The active interest of a corporate entity of the size and scope of the Tsakos Group opens new prospects for the realisation of a shared vision of growth for the company, not only within Greece but also in the markets of Europe, North and South America and the Far East, through specialised targeted sales points and distribution networks"�.

FROM THE ATTICA VENTURES PRESS DESK