With great joy and pride, we present to you the latest story in our Business Stories series.
The Business Stories series offers an insider’s view of the success stories of individuals who trusted and collaborated with ena Development Consultants, making the best possible use of the funding programs they participated in and, through their skills, talent, and determination, turning their entrepreneurial vision into reality.
The team at ena Development Consultants will always stand as supporters in every effort to achieve their clients’ development goals.
The second Business Story features a purely Greek, fully integrated production and commercial company that specializes in meat, as well as the products and services related to it. Let’s get to know Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company!
Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company boasts nearly 100 years of continuous business activity and three generations of experience in the production, processing, and trade of meat, as well as related products and services.
At its privately owned Production Park, covering 55,000 sq.m. in Lambrino, Xanthi, Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company operates a series of integrated business units: livestock farming, slaughterhouse, meat processing, production of cold cuts and meat products, processing of animal by-products and co-products, as well as rendering services and by-product treatment. Meanwhile, the company’s butcher shop has been continuously operating since 1954 at the Municipal Market of Xanthi.
The main categories of products and services offered by Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company to the market are:
Meat
The company offers fresh veal, beef, pork, sheep, and goat meat to the market, sourced from animals raised on its own farm and in collaboration with local producers. Recently, it has also introduced Greek Brachyceros beef to the market—a product resulting from its long-term, targeted collaboration with selected livestock farmers in the greater Xanthi area. These producers are certified breeders of the Greek Brachyceros breed, in accordance with the registry maintained by the Animal Genetic Improvement Center of Drama.
In addition, the company supplies a range of packaged and frozen cuts of beef and pork for household consumption to the retail food store network.
Cold Cuts & Meat Products
The company produces a wide range of cold cuts, divided into three categories: local and traditional, smoked and snack-style cold cuts. These are made from beef, pork, poultry, and selected complementary raw materials. The cold cuts are prepared using whole cuts or finely chopped meat through various processing methods: thermal treatment, smoking, natural drying, natural curing, or a combination of these techniques—based on traditional, time-honored recipes as well as modern, local, or cosmopolitan ones.
Notably, the cold cut range also includes "clean label" products—items made without any preservatives or additives.
The company’s meat products, made from veal, beef, pork, sheep, poultry, and select complementary raw materials, are available fresh or frozen, ready to be cooked at home or used in food service.
Slaughterhouse Services
The company’s slaughterhouse operates two production lines—one exclusively for cattle and one for pigs and small ruminants. Slaughtering is carried out following the prescribed practices as defined by European standards.
The facility serves a significant number of collaborating local livestock farmers, as well as the company’s internal needs for fresh meat, cold cuts, meat products, and packaged frozen goods.
Rendering Services & By-Products
The company's rendering and by-product processing unit also features two production lines—one for incineration and one for sterilization—and serves both the company and the entire region of Thrace, as it is the only facility of its kind in the area.
The two lines are dedicated to incineration and the neutralization of non-processable slaughterhouse by-products.
Connected to the Rendering unit is a pilot facility for the treatment of high-fat liquid waste, which produces biogas with the potential for conversion into electricity. The facility was designed and constructed in collaboration with the School of Environmental Engineering of the Democritus University of Thrace and has received the OIKOPOLIS Environmental Awareness Award in 2017 and an Environmental Award in 2018.
Awards & Certifications
Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company is ISO 22000 certified and implements a robust product traceability system.
In 2018, following certification by Eurocert, the company joined the “ELLΑ-DIKA MAS” Initiative, and selected products now carry the Initiative's mark.
Additionally, the company has earned multiple awards and distinctions in national and international competitions, most notably for its Thracian kavourmas (2019), and for its pastirma and smoked pork chop, awarded in the annual Great Taste Awards.
In recent years, Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company has developed and implemented a comprehensive strategic growth plan, making optimal use of the resources from funding programs in which it has participated with the support of ena Development Consultants. The plan focuses on the operational, administrative, and organizational modernization of the company, aiming to:
- Offer branded, safe, and high-quality products and services to the market
- Promote the development of the Greek meat market
- Expand its product distribution network beyond the boundaries of the Region of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace
- Build and maintain healthy and mutually beneficial partnerships with employees, customers, suppliers, collaborators, and the wider productive, business, scientific, educational, and local communities
The company’s collaboration with ena Development Consultants has been long-standing. Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company has successfully participated in funding initiatives under the Rural Development Programmes 2007–2013 and 2014–2020, as well as the Development Law.
The consulting guidance for Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company has been undertaken by the experienced team of ena Development Consultants, led by Nikos Charalampogiannis, Head of Investment Projects under the Development Law. The collaboration to date has been excellent, and it is clear that Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company closely follows Nikos’s advice that “investors should view funding programs as tools, not as an end in themselves or a source of expected profit, because otherwise they will fail to achieve their set goals.”
More info:
Info
Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company
Production Park
Lambrino, Xanthi 67100, Tel. +30 2541 600500
Κρεοπωλείο | Butcher Store
Municipal Market of Xanthi, 67133 Xanthi
Τ. +30 25410 22080
Remember Business Story #1: Le Fondant!!
