Konstantinos Rotsios, of the Perrotis College American Farm School and ARTOLIO expert in marketing of the Thessaloniki region, Greece, works hand in hand with the agronomists, farmers, and millers of the region to ensure their future success in the market. Like many of the ARTOLIO team members he tackles the great issue that is transitioning from a small market to a broader one, especially for smallholder producers.

With farmers and millers, Konstantinos works on training them, educating them in cost analysis, marketing, the uses of the different platforms and organizing seminars about food exportation. Simultaneously, he partakes in discussions with the rest of the partners of the project about marketing and branding, the identification and incorporation into new markets, the creation of a common brand identity and consumer trends. His combined effort with the marketing team is remarkable, especially in the last leg of the project until its complexion, when sales managers and experts are more than needed to put the excellent quality extra virgin olive oil of the farmers into the market. This is the overall goal of ARTOLIO for the remaining of the project.

“Overall, it is challenging to change the mindset of individuals. It requires, persistence, a clear message and the presentation of concrete benefits that will result from a change in behavior. Some of the beneficiaries have progressed more than others (the more mature cases). The pandemic did not facilitate the effort,” adds Konstantinos when asked about the main concerns of his region. The consensus is that the project should continue after its completion, to ensure the farmers are well oriented towards the market they are going to step into. However, some of the above-mentioned problems can be resolved with the cooperation among producers. The key principle of the project is collaboration, after all.

“I joined ARTOLIO because I loved the project’s concept. The principals of collaboration, sustainable farming practices, environmental concerns, the supply chain process (small producers selling their products directly to consumers under a Quality Assurance Logo), are all very closely related to my academic interests and the principals of my institution. Moreover, the extra virgin olive oil sector is a key for Greece’s agricultural economy in terms of value. It involves several thousands of small producers. By making a difference on the sector, we will make an impact to a large portion of our agricultural community and contribute to its sustainable development.”