From 1 to 4 February, Hazera presented at Agrotica in Thessaloniki, the largest agricultural event for the Greek and the Balkans markets. Over 150.000 people visited Agrotica, they were introduced by our team to our wide portfolio and our renewed brand identity. Petros Karkatselis, General Manager at Hazera Greece, looks back on a successful exhibition.
Tomato varieties stole the show.
“Many visitors came directly to us, because they were already familiar with and interested in Hazera products”, says Petros. “Growers were already exposed to our online communication about our varieties, and this was a great opportunity to experience and learn about them in real life.” According to Petros, the team received a lot of positive reactions. “The visitors were impressed by the display of our fruits and vegetables. Our tomatoes, and specifically the ToBRFV IR-resistant varieties: Thireos, Lollipop and Pendragon, where the main attraction as the virus is aa major concern for many growers in Greece. They were looking for ways to continue cultivating high-quality tomatoes despite the ToBRFV virus. With these resistant varieties, we can offer them a solution.”
“The tomato varieties Nissos, Iris and Bellamond impressed with qualities like high yield, great taste, and nice color. For Iris, the ability to grow in very hot conditions is an important advantage.” Petros mentions that the impressive quality of the tomatoes, combined with the excellent customer service provided by the Hazera team, have led to many planned visits of growers to Hazera’s tomato greenhouse in Crete. “In Crete, we display our complete tomato portfolio, including commercial ToBRFV IR-resistant varieties and trials for new tomato varieties. For those who’ve missed our tomatoes at Agrotica, you are welcome to visit us in our Demo greenhouse in Crete.”
A great team – of crops and people!
“Agrotica also offered us the opportunity to actively promote our wide portfolio”, Petros continues. “Next to tomatoes, our peppers, eggplants, cauliflowers, and lettuces were also received very well.
Our third objective was to familiarize existing and potential future customers with our renewed brand identity. All in all, this has been a very successful exhibition. Not only from a crop-perspective, but also from a people-perspective”, Petros says proudly. “Our team showed great spirit and expertise, From Product development and Marketing to sales. Together, we created a positive and fruitful environment for the visitors to learn about our products.”
Valuable lessons
For Petros, the interactions with the visiting growers were also vital to the success of this exhibition. “We connected with them and guided them to the best person who could help them with their questions, but also to find out what challenges they’re facing on a daily basis. Some of them only came for the ToBRFV-resistant varieties because of their challenge with the virus, for example. By learning from the first-hand information, they provide, we can further improve our portfolio and help them achieve their full potential in the ever-changing markets and growing circumstances.”
