Category: Stories

 

Talking with Michalis Moraitis and Konstantinos Vaiopoulos

Michalis Moraitis and Konstantinos Vaiopoulos are two restless young people with brilliant ideas. One of those ideas, won the first place in the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge competition implemented by the New Agriculture New Generation organisation, in the category Agri-Tech & Food-Tech Ideas.

While talking with them, one can see that one complements the other. Michalis is from Athens and Konstantinos is from Karditsa, but Thessaloniki brought them together.

Michalis graduated in Agriculture in Athens, majoring in Agricultural Engineering. There he got to know precision farming, or “smart farming,” firsthand, and that attracted him. Thus, after a search, he ended up at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he has been taking for the last 2 years his master’s degree, “Advanced computer and communication systems”. He admits that it was a difficult step for an agronomist to suddenly turn into this direction.

Konstantinos, on the other hand, found himself in Thessaloniki in 2010. There he studied at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Technical University. His father is a farmer, so he knows firsthand the agricultural sector as every year he goes and helps his father in all stages of development of the plants he cultivates. A year ago, in 2019, he also started his Master’s degree, in the Department of Informatics of the same University, but this time, he chose the subject of Artificial Intelligence.

The two met as co-workers at the National Center for Research and Technological Development located at the Institute of Bioeconomics and Agrotechnology, where they have been working for the last year. In addition to their collaboration at work, the two began to hang out outside of work and discover many common interests. “When we talked, new ideas came quite easily and effortlessly. Somehow, through the conversation and from our personal concerns, the idea of CityVeg was born”, says Konstantinos. “Either we would collaborate on something like that, or in music!”, adds Michalis laughing.

 

CityVeg: 3D robotic platform for irrigation, fertilization and weed control

But what is CityVeg really and how did it come about? “The spark lit when in a conversation with Michalis, we were wondering how confident one can feel about the quality of the vegetables he consumes, since he does not know exactly how they are produced. This dispute led us to the conclusion that it is better to be able to grow these vegetables by yourself, everywhere, even in the city “says Konstantinos with Michalis adding” but how can a person do it alone when he lives in the city, works every day and his schedule does not allow him this occupation? ” That was, after all, my question.

Thus, was born the idea of creating a platform that would do this all by itself. CityVeg is a 3D robotic platform, a small construction that fits on a flower bed, has the ability to move along the entire length and width of the flower bed and applies irrigation, fertilization and herbicide procedure based on the needs of each plant.

“It’s like a big 3D printer,” Michalis explains. “It has exactly the same philosophy, it is a Cartesian robot”, adds Konstantinos. But how does it perceive the needs of each plant? As Konstantinos explains to me, CityVeg is programmed to photograph the floor plan of the flowerbed 1 to 2 times a day. These photos are sent via a WI-FI connection to special software located in the cloud, feeding a neural network that the team has trained with a variety of photos of each plant species, and thus can pinpoint exactly which plant it is. Then, Michalis adds that “having identified the plant, the software sees the coordinates in space and their size. At the same time, it receives moisture data from an independent sensor that we have installed and thus, realizes how much water each plant needs “. Using the same technology, it can recognize the need for hydro-lubrication as well as for biological pesticides.

“The great innovation of CityVeg is the accuracy it has”, Konstantinos explains to me. “Our goal is for a family to forget about going to the supermarket, to be able to cover its own needs for vegetables, while at the same time being sure that the quality is the best possible.”

 

Their participation in the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge and the victory

Wanting to develop their idea but also to finally be able to put it into practice, Konstantinos and Michalis, decided to participate in the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge competition of the New Agriculture New Generation organisation, which took place in July 2020 .

They heard about the competition through social media but also through suggestions from acquaintances, friends and colleagues who believed that the contest could offer a lot to the team, regardless of the prizes they might win. In the end, it seems that Konstantinos and Michalis feel the same, although they finally managed to get the 1st place in the Agri-Tech & Food-Tech Ideas category of the competition.

“The whole process of participating in the competition, the bootcamps, it was a very positive experience with interactivity and intense cooperation”, Konstantinos tells me while he adds that “We spoke with experienced professionals in the agri-food sector, who gave us valuable advice while at the same time, they introduced us to the world of business, something we did not know and it was one of our main goals to learn it better “.

What’s really interesting is that when they submitted their proposal for participation in the Agri-Tech & Food-Tech Ideas category, Michalis and Konstantinos were still working on the technical parts of CityVeg. But by the time they were selected they had already managed to build the prototype CityVeg, going from idea to practice. Konstantinos, who is a generally positive person, states that “I believed very much from the beginning that we would be able to win, I really believed in our idea!” And so it happened.

They tell me that the cash prize they won from the competition they intend to use it for the purchase of additional equipment. But the most important prize for them, they believe is the mentoring that will follow and they are looking forward to it, so that they can proceed to the next steps, which is both the completion of the prototype and the subsequent pilot tests in different environmental conditions, with the aim of creating a product that is ready to be released in the coming years in the markets.

Konstantinos tells me that CityVeg is aimed at middle- or high-income families, people who care about their diet and have decided to adopt a “green” lifestyle. He adds that “now with the covid-19 pandemic, many people chose local shops for their shopping and others avoided supermarkets due to overcrowding. These people can benefit from having CityVeg at home. It gives you autonomy”. Also, as it provides remote control, anyone will be able to install it even on their holiday home and monitor the process through an app.

In closing, I am pleased to see that CityVeg can serve another purpose, a social purpose, as it can be particularly useful to people with disabilities or mobility problems. “We believe that it can give these people independence, which is essential for their good quality of life. “Apart from that, however, it can also give them self-confidence, as they will be able to produce something basic for their diet, and therefore for their life”, says Konstantinos. They also told me a little secret, that they are thinking of using voice commands, for CityVeg to be even more accessible to people with disabilities.

 

Talking to Antonia Poriazi, beneficiary of the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation program

Antonia Poriazi is a young scientist in the agri-food sector, having a deep family tradition that she dreams of developing. Antonia participated in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation program implemented by the non-profit organization “New Agriculture New Generation” in collaboration with ReGeneration Greece, for this very reason. We had the chance to talk and she described to me her experiences and her plans for the future.

Antonia comes from the beautiful Lemnos. She decided to study in Thessaloniki, in the “Food Technology” department of the then Alexandre Technological Educational Institute from which she graduated a year and a half ago. The reason that made her work in the agri-food sector, is the great tradition that her family has in the sector, as from 1919, her great-grandmother founded the family business “Poriazi-Lemnos Family“, which produces its own local flour of Lemnos which uses to produce various types of rusks but also local pasta, which in fact in the local dialect of Lemnos are called “thlomaria”.

“Growing up on the island, but also in a food business, I discovered that I really liked both the food part and the inspections that take place every year,” she tells me.

 

Tradition and love for the agri-food industry

After graduating and doing her internship in a biscuit industry in Diavata, she immediately started working for Unismack, a company that specializes in savory gluten free snacks and is based in Kiklis. At Unismack, where she currently works, she works in the Quality Department of the company, while at the same time he is actively involved in the development of new products.

Nevertheless, it seems that her place calls her back as she tells me that in a few weeks she will return to Lemnos to deal with the family business. Her decision to return was made very quickly. “I’m very happy with my job here at Unismack,” she tells me. “However, as a program was approved which is carried out in collaboration with our family business, “Poriazi-Lemnos Family” and the University of the Aegean, the position of food technologist emerged who will work with the University to develop new products. And that was something I did not want to lose. ” And she adds that “I feel that I would not find a more ideal moment, a more perfect situation than this, to return back to Lemnos!”

As for their family business, it is a vertical unit that deals with both the primary sector, as they have fields on the island where local varieties of wheat and barley are grown, as well as contract farming as they give the seed to the farmers and then buy crops from them. Antonia feels that it is time for her to contribute in the development of this family tradition. “Right now, we are the 4th generation, me, my sisters and my cousins who are in business. And of course, together is the 3rd generation, that of our parents “, she tells me.

 

Her participation in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation

Although Antonia had already found a job in the agri-food industry at the time she applied for the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation program, she felt that the program had a lot to offer her.

So, learning about the program online, she decided to apply for her participation, which was accepted. “I know that perhaps for most people the goal of participating in this program is probably to find a job. However, reading the content of the program and seeing the renowned professionals who participated, I aimed to hear and learn things that I was sure would offer me a lot in my professional career in the future “, she tells me.

The important thing for her is that she gained a lot of knowledge, not only about food, but also about business management, supply chain processes, the promotion part and much more, she tells me. “I gained many things, such as that I met many renowned people through my participation in the program and at the same time, I met other young men and women with passion like me, with whom we exchanged views.This was something I liked very much, you do not easily find people with the same interests and the same goals “, she tells me while adding that,” the program covered a wide range of topics that I found useful from the very first moment. I used them immediately in the job I am in now and I am sure that I will need them in the future “.

The first meetings of the program were able to take place up close, with the participants having the opportunity to meet for a while, before the 2nd wave of the coronavirus pandemic broke out. The rest of the meetings, although held online, did not seem to disappoint Antonia at all. “I have to admit that our online meetings were not much different from being close together. The presentations were equally perfect and efficient “, she tells me.

Antonia claims impressed by her participation in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation. As she characteristically tells me, “I am absolutely happy with my participation in the program. The organization was excellent, even when the ‘New Agriculture New Generation‘ was called in such a short time to do the whole process online, the information was impeccable and the management as well.” While laughing, she adds that “Besides, I have already recommended to many of my friends to register for the next Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation!”.

 

Return to her roots and continuing the tradition

Antonia’s plans are structured and methodical, like her. Her first goal is to continue her studies through a postgraduate program, which is more oriented to the fields of organization and administration, something that will help the family business even more.

At the same time, she intends to continue the family tradition, together with her sisters and cousins. Her dream is to be able to expand the business and be able to promote their products, both inside and outside Greece. “I have a lot of ideas and a lot of love and appetite for work “she tells me, while finally adding that “I believe that in the “Poriazi-Lemnos Family” we will be able to develop new products, always made with deep love for the place and its people”.

 

Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation – Talking to Dimitris Firbas, beneficiary of the program

Talking to Dimitris Firbas, beneficiary of the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation implemented by the New Agriculture for a New Generation program, the first thing one sees is that he really loves what he does.

Dimitris is 26 years old and comes from Xanthi. His family has 50 acres there and so, Dimitris has been dealing with them since he was a child. “I remember that together with my parents, we went to the acres and did everything together. “Slowly I started to do more and more and finally I decided to choose this as my field of work”.

And that’s what he did, and with great success I might add. Thus, he received his degree in Management of Agri-Environmental Systems from Perrotis College of the American School of Agriculture, specializing in Precision Agriculture and is currently beginning his master’s program in Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming at the same university.

“Precision agriculture is rising during these recent years, Greek farmers see that it is something necessary,” Dimitris tells me. But what exactly is Precision agriculture? Dimitris explains to me that, in essence, precision agriculture aims to optimize inputs to maximize production. “We use the latest technology available in Greece, such as drones and GPS systems, so that we can be more accurate and operate in a targeted way so that the farmer does not waste time and money on things that have no value.”

After graduating, Dimitris went to the USA for about 2 years, at the urging of his professor at Perrotis College, Mr. Konstantinos Rotsios. There, he had the opportunity to do his internship on a greenhouse in a nursery in Massachusetts, where he spent 14 months. He describes this practice as a unique experience. He then attended classes at the University of Minnesota for 6 months. “My way of thinking and the way I perceive many things has changed. I have gained substantial professional experience”, Dimitris tells me.

After his return in 2017, Dimitris started looking for a job in Greece and at the same time, he started to work more intensively with the family fields.

 

Participating in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation

In early January 2020, Dimitris discovered through a search on the website of the New Agriculture for a New Generation, the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation program. It was immediately something that caught his attention and he decided to participate.

Besides, his participation in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation would mean his return to Thessaloniki, which he loves very much, so he would not miss this opportunity for anything in the world!

“Participating in the Regeneration Academy, I met people from the agri-food sector who I would probably spend many years meeting because most of them were already junior executives in companies, with a lot of experience”, Dimitris tells me and adds “talking to them, I was able to identify with the Greek reality and gain knowledge, as until then, I had not worked in Greece “.

He tells me that the seminars were highly informative in his opinion but also helpful in creating a complete picture, with professionals from across the industry. “Although the majority of the courses were done online because of the covid-19 pandemic, their quality was the same,” he adds.

Upon completion of the training, participants in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation get in touch with major companies in the agri-food industry. The program chose which companies the beneficiaries could work with, and in Dimitri’s case, looks like it was a match made in heaven. “I was lucky because in the first interview organized by New Agriculture for a New Generation, the second interviewer was the Human Resources Manager of the Brewery of Macedonia Thrace,” Dimitris tells me.

From that moment at the beginning of May, when the interview for his recruitment took place, he realized that his goals are like those of the Brewery of Macedonia Thrace, or as it is widely known “Vergina”. 2 weeks after the interview, at the end of May, Dimitris was hired by the Brewery of Macedonia Thrace.

As he enthusiastically tells me, “My beliefs and my mentality fit perfectly with those of Vergina company. Now, in Vergina we agronomists are dealing with the raw material, barley. Therefore, we encounter a lot of farmers engaged in contract farming, something that Vergina first brought to Greece. ” He adds that “our goal is to educate farmers. We act as agricultural advisors and guide the producer throughout the agricultural period, so that we can ensure the best possible raw material and the farmers can benefit with the highest prices and the reduction of their expenses “.

 

Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation – connecting young professionals with companies

Dimitris told me that he feels that the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation of the New Agriculture for a New Generation program has acted as a catalyst in his professional development. “I’m not sure that if I had not participated in the program, I would have been given the opportunity to work for a company like Vergina.” He also told me that he thinks that even if he had found a job in his field, it could hardly be something that would offer him a personal fulfillment, something he has achieved through his employment in Vergina.

For him it is very important that the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation and New Agriculture for a New Generation bring young people in contact with companies. “Companies now know what they are asking for but young people do not know how to offer it, so the Regeneration Academy helps them discover their skills and promote them properly,” he says.

Closing our discussion, Dimitris tells me proudly that “Through all this journey but also through my employment now in Vergina, I have gained experience, not only as an agronomist but also as a human being”.

AgroU, the missing link in the agri-food sector

Needless to say, that the recent coronavirus pandemic has significantly changed the way we operate, socialize and work. But at the same time, it has highlighted shortcomings and needs that we may not have been able to realize before. Kyriakos Nikolaides together with Kyriaki Chatzigeorgiou, during the pandemic saw an opportunity as they managed to respond to a basic need of the agri-food sector, that of connecting the primary sector with the active workforce.

Kyriakos comes from Panagitsa, a mountain village in Edessa, while Kyriaki comes from Thessaloniki, where she studied Applied Informatics at the University of Macedonia. The two met 5 years ago as they were fellow athletes.

Kyriakos has graduated from the Department of Agriculture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and works as an agronomist. “I come from a rural family,” he tells me. “As I am also a farmer, I was able to see the problems that a farmer faces from a very young age. One of them is the inability to find a skilled workforce when you want it. During the harvest season, for example, the problem becomes particularly difficult.”

Although Kyriaki’s studies are focused mainly on computer science, she told me that she has always been interested in the agri-food sector. While talking with Kyriakos and other young people from all over Europe as part of their participation in an Erasmus program in Romania, she had the opportunity to see the problems faced by workers in the industry and to recognize the importance of solving them.

Thus, gradually came the idea of creating a platform that brings together farmers and people looking for work in the industry. The AgroU platform operates as this link and is fully accessible via the internet.The service, which started operating on April 1st, currently serves Greece and so far, has over 4,350 applications from employees as well as 669 applications from farmers. In addition, it has managed to fill 931 jobs and has served at least 3 agricultural cooperatives.

“Because we started in the middle of the pandemic, we decided to slightly modify the plaform to serve as many farmers as possible. We wanted our service to serve all the people who are active in the industry “, says Kyriaki. Now AgroU can bring farmers in contact not only with food technologists, people who have studied animal production, agriculturists and so on. “

The relationship with the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program

As they both tell me, they have long been actively involved in various activities of the ” New Agriculture for a New Generation ” program, which they believe has provided them with important skills so that they can create and develop their platform. As Kyriakos tells me, participating in the Regeneration Academy For Food Innovation program of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program, he met the needs of the food industries and understood their needs for specialized personnel.

Both Kyriakos and Kyriaki, in addition to their participation in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation, have attended the training program on Propagating Material, which took place in Naoussa. The team also participated in this year’s Trophy-Τροφή Challenge and has been selected to participate in the Agrifood Accelerator “Agroanelixis”, where they are now in the first phase, that of training, guidance, and counseling.

“Our participation in the Regeneration Academy for Food Innovation was a really beautiful experience, we met very remarkable people and each of them spoke to us about the field in which he operates, giving us knowledge and necessary information”, Kyriakos told me while adding that “equally important for me, of course, is meeting other people like us who are active in the industry and with whom, who knows, one day we may work together!”

As for their recent participation in the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge, where they competed in the Agri-tech category, Kyriaki tells me that “While at the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge we needed to better structure our presentation, and that is something really useful. We were able to use all this knowledge to prepare a presentation, which we can now show to investors. For me, that was very important.”

Their last participation in the program of the Agrifood Accelerator “Agroanelixis”, seems to make them excited as they look forward for their next steps. “It is a fun way of learning. We discover day by day things about our service, which we had never thought of!”, Kyriakos told me laughing. “Mentors play a key role in this, giving us advice. We have learned many new things about our online presence and of course we have discovered some of our potential weaknesses, with the aim of improving them “.

Looking ahead to the future

Kyriaki and Kyriakos are perhaps one of the few who seem to have been helped by the pandemic as the demand for their service increased significantly. However, it seems that the service offered by AgroU does not just cover a seasonal temporary need, since the platform already has applications from producers who are looking for staff for the coming winter. As Kyriaki characteristically told me, “Although perhaps the covid-19 pandemic helped our platform to stand out, we offer a solution to a problem that is timeless, it’s not just about this difficult season”.

“We want to build a network of people, inside and outside Greece. To help the farmers, at all stages of the production process “, Kyriakos tells me. “Besides, it is through crises, such as this one, that it becomes obvious that our country needs to be more autonomous and self-sufficient. And this can only happen if we invest in the agri-food sector “.

The team wants to give an alternative to people who may not have a job. Through their platform, they invite them to discover the agri-food industry and get in direct contact with it and its needs. “Our dream is for the farmers to be able to see the product they imagine being implemented, through the help of specialized staff, who will give them advice and guide them. And all this, through our service”, Kyriaki tells me before our conversation comes to an end.

It is a fact that in addition to tourism, our country can have rich agricultural production. Services such as AgroU, in addition to innovation and simplification of procedures, invite us to listen to a potential need. A need for turning to the agri-food sector once again.

SyntaGIS Asclepius

When I started talking with Giannis Karapetsas, founding member of the SCE “SyntaGIS Asclepius “, the first thing I had to find out was what “propagating material” means and how exactly it is used in the production process. John explained everything to me in detail and at the end of our meeting, I had learned a lot.

Giannis Karapetsas is a beneficiary of the “Aromatic and Medicinal Plants” program by New Agriculture for A New Generation, implemented by the Agricultural University of Athens. Giannis, like his entire team, is from the area of Trikala and they have created the “SyntaGIS Asclepius”, a Social Cooperative Enterprise that aims to produce Guaranteed Propagating Material from native populations found in Trikala.

Propagating material on action

But what is propagating material? Giannis explained the whole process to me. First they find the herbs, they identify them, then these herbs are evaluated through chemical analysis and after they have selected the best ones, they create mother plantations from which they produce pure propagating material, or as we often call them, “cuttings”.

“Raw propagating material, or cuttings, comes from the seeds,” Giannis tells me. “The goal is for each plant to have exactly the same characteristics,” he added.

Giannis told me that he always wanted to work with medicinal and aromatic plants. He had studied Agriculture at the Agricultural University of Athens. In 2004, he met a botanist, “I remember being impressed by the fact that he was taking wild herbs and mixing them. Watching the whole process and after I tried them, I was so excited that I said that is what I want to do!”, Giannis told me.

From 2004 to 2019, when he finally started working with medicinal and aromatic plants, although 15 years have passed, Giannis’ love for herbs and aromatic plants remained. So, he decided to participate in the training program on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the New Agriculture for A New Generation, which is implemented by the Agricultural University of Athens.

Their team, that came from Trikala, started with 14 people. Now, their SCE consists of 6 members. In their first phase, they started by cultivating Herbal Mountain Tea (Sideritis perfoliata ssp. Perfoliata), Melissa officinalis (ssp. Altissima) and Wild Rose (Rosa canina), herbs that can be found in Mount Kerketios, or “Koziakas”, as we know him best today.

Aromatic and Medicinal Plants Program

Giannis was excited when he shared with me his experience with the New Agriculture for a New Generation’ s program. “The knowledge provided by the New Agriculture for a New Generation is really valuable. They have built a complete team, consisting of agronomists, botanists, chemists, etc”, he tells me, while adding that “The support they provide you is huge. They don’t leave you alone at any stage.”

Of course, for Giannis, practice is just as important as theory. “For me, it’s not just academic education that offers a lot. The fact that through the program, you get to know the object firsthand, is what we, the people who work in the agri-food sector, wish to achieve”, he tells me. “The excursions for example, that we did with the team last summer so we could collect the right shoots and then multiply them, they were crucial experiences.”

The goal of the team from Trikala is, depending on the orders they have, to be able to produce a specific number of propagating material every year, which can either be given to local producers or used by them, in the rich agricultural environment of Trikala.
At the end of our discussion, Giannis told me “I feel that what we are doing has a perspective, has a future and can contribute to the Greek economy as a whole. There are Greek producers who are remarkable and want to be involved. In cooperation with us, we can all contribute together, both to the local economy and to the country’s overall economy, highlighting the value of the agri-food sector”.

In these troubling times, talking to someone like George Kyriakarakos, gives you hope and makes you optimistic about the future. As long as there are initiatives like Smart Meter Anywhere, designed for the benefit of others and offering help where no one expects it, you start to think that things can actually go well.

 

When energy meets smart agriculture

George is a founding member of the “Smart Meter Anywhere” team. “Smart Meter Anywhere” answers a basic living problem that may seem a bit far from here, as it is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Giving a brief description, “Smart Meter Anywhere” is a smart energy meter platform in which users can prepay for pay-as-you-go electricity and manage their finances easily. Such models are widely used across Africa.

Their platform, however, has an additional feature, which makes it the only company in the world that can offer a full solution. “Smart Meter Anywhere” connects electricity meters to agriculture, highlighting it’s fundamental role in increasing the living standards of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, it allows users to connect their smart meter platform in various agricultural-related devices, such as a grinder, an oil press and an irrigation pump.

Looking back at how the team began and the idea evolved, George told me that he finished his doctorate in 2012 at the Agricultural University of Athens on “Energy Management in autonomous micro-networks with artificial intelligence” or as he says “To put it simply, on solutions to provide energy to rural areas of developing countries “. After that, he worked at the Center for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving and then, at a consulting firm where he began visiting Sub-Saharan Africa as an energy consultant, implementing projects that benefited the African Union. In addition, George was an active member of the teams that drafted some of the first institutional texts of the African Union, which mainly concerned the harmonization of the electricity market as well as issues of institutional and regulatory framework for the operation of micro-networks, which have been adopted by all the 55 Leaders of the African States.

Combining both his studies and the experiences he gained while traveling in Africa, he saw firsthand that there is a huge deficit in the integration of agricultural-related devices into energy metering systems, while it is proved that these practices could improve business viability in rural electrification.

“In Sub-Saharan African villages, people are basically living in the dark. Our fellow human beings do not have access to electricity. In fact, according to the UN evaluation framework, access can mean from having a single light bulb in a household or maybe a photovoltaic lamp that can only charge one mobile phone” George told me. He went on saying that, “So, it is obvious that 600 million people don’t have a single light in their homes, they practically live in the dark”.

 

Innovation in the agri-food sector and the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge

So, in 2017, George came up with the idea of the smart meter anywhere and after a laboratory prototype he made in 2018, he met with 3 friends, Christos Karvas, Konstantinos Kottikas and Michalis Faridis and together, they decided to start implementing it. Christos is a Mechanical Engineer, with a PhD in “Automatic Control of Micro-networks” at the AUA, where he and George met. Konstantinos is an Economist and PhD candidate in “Marketing” and Michalis is a developer specialized in “Stock Market Cyber Security”, with a great experience. The team is also completed by Alexandros Lazanas, a childhood friend of George who lives in England and works in the investment banking industry, helping the team significantly in financing.

They then decided to take part in the European PowerUp! competition where they qualified, representing Greece in the finals in Europe. After this participation and having gained precious skills on how to present their product appropriately, they prepared for the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge competition, of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program.

“The Trophy-Τροφή Challenge sounded a very good idea, as we wanted to take part in a competition that is also related to the agricultural sector. We were glad to see that the competition was well organized, while everything during the finals, from the space, to the presentations by entrepreneurs and the support from the team of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program, it was all perfect. It was a high-level competition”, said George while adding that “As in such competitions, each team must feel that it is winning something, regardless of whether it wins one of the first prizes. And Trophy-Τροφή Challenge makes you feel exactly that. That you have gained valuable knowledge and you are one step closer to your goal”.

“Smart Meter Anywhere” won the 1^st prize in the Agri-tech category, winning both a major cash prize, valuable support from Endeavor Greece and an educational trip to Rutgers University in the United States.

As for the prizes, the team considered them very important for the development and support of “Smart Meter Anywhere”. “The € 8,500 cash prize was extremely important, as we are now in the final stages before the company is founded and this money will be our founding capital,” says George. But it wasn’t just that. As he says “Through the support provided by Endeavor Greece as another of the prizes we won from the competition, we attended specialized seminars that gave us knowledge and skills that are really worth having. The training was tailored on the needs of the team and on our goals, so their contribution to our business development was very important”.

Of course, the prize that everyone was waiting for was the big educational trip to Rutgers University in the USA. “We were thrilled for being able to do this trip! And after coming back we realized that the things we gained from this weren’t just about academic knowledge, it was something bigger. Through the meetings that were organized, we learned the ways in which we can enter the market safely, we talked to people who have made start-ups and we got really valuable information”, says George.

He also told me that a great benefit for them was the fact that they were able to see a different way of opperation, a different model used by Universities in America. A model where entrepreneurship is at the core of universities, but this does not make them lose their social role. A model where teaching is focused not only in theory, but also in experience and practice.

 

Social entrepreneurship of tomorrow

For the team, “Smart Meter Anywhere” is not just a business venture aimed at making a profit. They try to give people what they really need, not what we think they need by creating a product that is fully open, accessible and customizable, depending on the needs of each area and each individual.

“When you have made the choice to work in Sub-Saharan Africa, you do it because you want to help, doing your part in something better. Help some of our fellow human beings who do not have the things that we have,” George told me.

He admits that it can be difficult sometimes and that he had many wrong beliefs about African countries before visiting them. “Things that we thought were very important when we were studying in the university, when I visited Africa, I quickly realized that there, they were pointless. There were more serious needs that needed to be answered. We try to remind the world of something that is very crucial to us, that agriculture should be at the center of any electrification effort in developing countries. The only way to make an electrification investment sustainable is to be able to create economic activity in these areas and that can only happen if you use agriculture. Agriculture is the sector of the economy that is intertwined with rural areas, if you manage to increase the quality and quantity of agricultural production you will help ensure food for the people there. And after that, you give these people the opportunity to have some increased revenue through agricultural production. It is an overall decentralized development that focuses on local development, but in a sustainable way, that highlights the social cohesion and the possibilities of each different area”, said George.

Now the team is preparing for the next day that will come, after the new challenges that Covid-19 brought to our lives. Their immediate goal is to complete their business plan and a fully functional demo, which will take place at the Agricultural University of Athens and through it, any researcher will be able to see the product operating in almost real conditions.

We live in a time when everything seems to be changing. Now, the importance of protecting the environment and utilizing the agri-food sector as a means of prosperity, economic and social, seems more important than ever. That’s exactly what Katerina, Theano, Nicolia and Andreas had in mind when they started working on an idea, which evolved into the creation of ProsPer about 2 years ago.

 

Innovation and circular economy in the foreground

ProsPer uses fish by-products of Greek fish farming, that means fish heads, bones and fins that are discarded during the filleting process, in order to create a series of powders that have high nutritional value and special taste. These powders can be used, among other things, in various types of sauces, soups and salads.

More specifically, the team has created three types of powders, a high-calcium powder, a high-protein powder and one that can be used as a flavor enhancer in new recipes. They are also aiming to start as a B2B business so their goal is to address restaurants and food cooperatives that could use the product both as a flavor and as a nutritional enhancer.

But let’s take things from the start. The idea for the ProsPer’s product came after 4 years of research by Katerina Kandiliari, as part of her doctorate at the Agricultural University of Athens. She states that “We saw that the whole research I was doing was combining things like circular economy and the utilization of natural resources, so we decided to turn it into a business idea. After all, the notion of sustainability and the reduction of the environmental footprint was one of the issues that troubled us from the beginning. “

Katerina, Theano and Nicolia were studying together at the Agricultural University of Athens. In fact, Theano Mikrou is currently pursuing her PhD in “Food Technology” and Nicolia Samari in “Ecology and Natural Environment”. They met Andreas Gougousis, the 4th member of the team, Mechanical Engineer and a graduate of the National Technical University, through the Summer School program of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program, where he participated while Katerina was a member of the organizing team. “Andreas was a beneficiary of the ” New Agriculture for a New Generation” program. We saw that he was very interested in the idea, and so we decided to make the team “, says Katerina.

 

Trophy-Τροφή Challenge as a springboard

The initiative for the creation of ProsPer started in 2018 through a competition of the Agricultural University of Athens, which gave them the opportunity to be trained in entrepreneurship. So, after having the basic knowledge around business and entrepreneurship, they heard about the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge competition organized by the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program and they decided to work fast in order to be able to participate in the competition.

One could say that the team saw the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge competition as an opportunity. As Katerina clearly states, “We strongly believed that Trophy-Τροφή Challenge would help us develop our idea. Therefore, our participation was a springboard for us to work intensively on it. “

So, they started a business plan where they figured out that, in order to reduce the initial capital, the company could function as a spin-off of the Agricultural University of Athens. After contacting AUA they saw that this was indeed possible, together with Mrs. Kapsokefalou, professor at the AUA and a member of the ProsPer team, as a mentor. “This enabled us to use the facilities and infrastructure of AUA for continuous research and development but also for the future production of our product,” says Katerina.

The team feels that they have won a lot of things by participating in the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge, besides the prizes they managed to receive from their victory in the competition. “From the first moment we presented our idea, we saw that there was a huge interest, coming from a large audience that included both food experts and experts on entrepreneurship” says Katerina. She also continues by saying that “We were able to draw attention to our product and our idea. On the one hand, we were exposed to a large audience in the finals that took place at the Benaki Museum and on the other hand, through the competition, we were able to participate in the Thessaloniki International Fair, expanding our professional reach “.

Very important was the support they received in order to be able to implement their idea, and of course the cash prize, which they used for promotion and networking as well as participation in International competitions, such as the Future Agro Challenge and seminars like the EU&U. Also, as Katerina mentions, “With the money we received, we were able to continue the research on the product but also to finance the necessary procedures for the establishment of our company.”

In addition to the cash prize, the winners of the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge were given the opportunity to be fully supported by Endeavor Greece for one year, while also winning a visit to Rutgers University in the United States, one of the world’s largest and pioneering agri-food universities.

ProsPer’s team, as one of the winners of the competition, had the full support of Endeavor Greece, which offered both a series of seminars tailored to the needs of the team and networking with executives from the fish farming industry as well as from companies and businessmen. As Katerina says, “In Endeavor Greece, they choose just the right people for you and then they get you in contact. They work as mentors,” adding that “The seminars were great and the people who presented them were truly experienced. I feel that we have gained a lot both in terms of communication and leadership. It is extremely important to have people that can read your every need and then provide you with a customized business plan”.

As for the team’s visit to Rutgers University, although Katerina’s program was full and she did not manage to attend, Theano and Nicolia who were there had an intense experience. The two members of the group that visited the University in February 2020 as another prize from the Trophy-Τροφή Challenge, feel that they had received significant feedback on their idea while at the same time, through this trip they were able to think of new things that could be applied either to the final product or to the production processes. “

According to Katerina, it was as if she was there, “We got in touch with food scientists, professors at Rutgers and we visited various labs. We also had the opportunity to see the Food Innovation Center, a unique experience as there is nothing similar in our country! Inside the University, there is a pioneering food innovation center that provides equipment and staff, working as an incubator for new ideas and new businesses.”

What impressed them the most as they say, is how much the food industry is evolving and how many new ideas there are. “When you are exposed to such an environment, one of the largest universities in the world with tremendous experience and training, you surely earn very important “tools” that you can use in the future,” says Katerina. “We met other young people and scientists who have also started their own startups. In America, it is easier to connect science and business in the afri-food sector. Rutgers University is a great example of that.”, she adds.

In an ever-changing environment, ideas like ProsPer’s can create a fertile ground for growth, that respects the environment by using by-products of an industry to create a new product. A product that ultimately works well for both humans and the environment, outlining the definition of circular economy.

The team is now ready to start a pilot production of their product. Soon it will be available in a network of partners, while at the same time they are in contact with fish farms, both in Greece and abroad, that are really supporting their idea.

Lamia, Greece – At an event on the topic of Rural Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Lamia Cultural, Scientific, and Philosophical Association “300” presented the 2019 “Thermopylae” Award to the Stevia Hellas Agricultural Cooperative for its innovative agricultural practices and continued development of the Fthiotida region.

“We don’t have a business culture in Greece, and that’s why we don’t have words for many business ideas that exist in American culture,” said Association President Dr. Panagiotis Iakovis, who presented the award to Stevia Hellas CEO Christos Stamatis. “Innovation is a state of mind, and all too often, the fear of failure in Greece prevents people from taking advantage of their ideas.

Based in Lamia, the Stevia Hellas Agricultural Cooperative stands out as a success story for its innovative production and management model. The only large-scale producer of stevia across Europe, Stevia Hellas was founded in 2011 with 47 producers and a 10-member management team. The Cooperative focuses on the cultivation and standardization of stevia products and has invested in producing top quality products.

“Lamia used to be known for its tobacco farms,” said Quality Assurance Manager Stella Dampasi, an agronomist and one of the Coop’s founding members. “My grandfather, father, and mother grew tobacco. It was a family business, and I remember working in the tobacco fields. But in 2009, 2010, tobacco cultivation stopped.” In 2008, the local government conducted stevia experiments with a few farmers in the area, including Stella’s father. “We read that in California, tobacco farmers became stevia farmers,” Stella said. “We thought it would not be difficult to grow stevia because it uses the same techniques as tobacco, but since it’s food, we have to be more careful.”

Stevia is a natural sweetener and zero-calorie sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the  Stevia rebaudiana plant native to Brazil and Paraguay. “Stevia is a 5-year cultivation, Stella said. “You cut it, and it regrows.” The plant is harvested in the summer months, when the leaves have the sweetest taste. At the end of March, the stevia fields were yielding their first leaves, and I could already taste their sweetness.

“We started out of a small container in the village of Stirfaka, and we visited many of the locals here to convince them to join us,” recalls Christos Stamatis, the charismatic CEO of Stevia Hellas. “It wasn’t easy, but a lot of people were convinced that stevia would be a great alternative to tobacco cultivation.”

Leonidas Zervas, the President of the Board of Stevia Hellas and the former president of the Board of tobacco producers in Greece, asked Christos to help out with the lifecycle management, promotion, and sustainability of the stevia product. Stevia had never been cultivated in the EU, so that first year involved gaining cultivation experience and getting through the EU bureaucracy to grow stevia. “We started importing seeds from different countries like the US, Canada, and Israel, and trying them in different fields,” Christos said. “We had success but also lots of failure.”

“Stevia Hellas was the first stevia point in Europe,” said Ilias Kalfas, Project Leader of New Agriculture for a New Generation’s “Small Farm Adoption” Program at the American Farm School. “They were pioneers. The EU did not have any regulations related to Stevia, so they cleared the way in terms of cultivation techniques, pesticides, etc. in Europe.”

While Stella learned about stevia cultivation, Christos visited European summits to create the right business model so that the Coop could develop sustainably. “Finding the seed capital was a challenge,” Christos said. “So we invested ourselves: we crowdsourced, and everyone contributed the same amount. We started with 50-70 thousand euros.”

“Our Coop is committed to selling the final product, not the raw product,” Christos said. “We produce three stevia products: first there are the dry stevia leaves, whole or crushed, that are ideal for teas, or as a sweetener in cooking. Then there is pure stevia powder, which is 250-400 times sweeter than sugar and ideal for industrial use in sodas and juices, by companies like Kri Kri, Green Cola, and Olympus. Third, there’s crystal stevia, which is now sold in all Greek supermarkets as a table sweetener. A teaspoon of stevia is three times as sweet as a teaspoon of sugar. Both the pure and crystal stevia are processed by a friend’s company in Lyon, France, so we have 100% European products, cultivated here in Greece.”

Stevia Hellas is now the leading Stevia producer across Europe with 60 producers, mostly from Ligaria and Lianokladi. At the end of 2017, the Coop moved into its current building in Lamia, which includes a meeting room, kitchen area, and final products area. “As we say in my village, the sky’s the limit,” Christos said. “The demand is huge, and we have to fulfill the needs of our customers. That means more collaborations, more fields, more producers.”

The Coop is known for its active role in the rural development of the region. “We focus on and invest in people,” Christos said. “We continuously train our members in rural sustainable development through our participation in European RurInno & RurAction Programs. Our new producers receive training through the New Agriculture for a New Generation Program. Stella and Stefanos Papapostolou, a founding member and one of our biggest producers, became beneficiaries of the NANG program in 2018. They are learning about what steps we need to take to certify our fields for organic cultivation. We also want to enhance women’s entrepreneurship and encourage more women to work for the Coop. Thirty percent of our producers are women, including our two top-yielding producers.”

“The New Agriculture for a New Generation program is the opportunity of a lifetime, one of the biggest investments in my country, and we have to take advantage of it,” Christos said. “I strongly believe that cooperative educationmust be a part of this program. If we don’t collaborate, how can we compete? We need to focus on synergies and the cooperative movement, focus on the sharing economy and producing more with less. There’s so much potential here.” He spoke with passion and conviction, and it was clear to me how much he loved Lamia.

“Many of our producers are young people with a new way of thinking,” Christos said. “They are highly skilled in different sectors. I know these people, I was born here. I am deeply embedded in this sector. I’ve spent a decade working at the Cooperative, and I’ve overcome challenges and difficulties. I want to pass this knowledge down to young people. I’m in a good position to start sharing my expertise.”

“New Agriculture for a New Generation” participated in the 28th Agrotica and there, I had a chance to meet Theodora Chatzilia, Co-Founder of New Food Product Development Institute. She talked to me about “The Uplifting Water”, a product based on the use of new innovative production technologies aimed at highlighting the importance of probiotics in human nutrition.

Thodora lives and works in Thessaloniki and is a graduate of the Department of Agriculture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where she is currently completing her master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition. Together with her father, Nikolaos Chatzilias, who is a chemical engineer and professor at the American College of Agriculture, they founded the New Food Product Development Institute a few years ago, which specializes in developing and designing new food products, designing and improving production lines and applying new technologies to the production process.

New Food Product Development Institute team have made their way to the bootcamps phase of the “Trophy-Τροφή Challenge” competition organized by the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program, by presenting “The Uplifting Water”, a natural fermented beverage made from a group of probiotic microorganisms that contains sediment as well as carbonate while being enriched with trace elements and vitamins, using a new technology called infusion. “The consumer nowadays is well informed and is always demanding for more functional foods and beverages, that is, focusing on natural or enriched foods that have specific beneficial effects on one’s health. Health awareness and a great number of bowel disorders have highlighted the benefits of probiotic foods. Our product is an alternative to consumers who mainly use milk products until now, “Theodora told me.

Through their presentation at “New Agriculture for a New Generation”’ s booth at the 28^th Agrotica Agrotica held at the TIF in Thessaloniki, I had the chance to see the many different flavors of The Uplifting Water, such as cucumber and lemon or ginger. Their product is already being marketed in collaboration with companies and industries active in the kefir and food industries.

Their goal is to produce other products in collaboration with food companies throughout the year. As Theodora said, “I find that food is a very promising industry that has a lot to give to those who decide to work for it. It is striking to me that everything is based on chemistry, a chemical bond can change everything! “.

Also, its is in their future plans to network even more and collaborate with other food industries as Co-Founder of the company says, “We really believe in the power of collaborations, because a product needs a lot of work and a lot of people from different fields. ”

Trophy-Τροφή Challenge was really important to them. “It was a great experience that helped us through networking, meeting other young people who have something to show, something that they have worked with and invested their time and energy. “New Agriculture for a New Generation” is a really pioneering program focused on agri-food, it is really innovative for Greek reality, “Theodora told me. She also mentioned that she has applied for the new Regeneration project implemented by “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program and with great enthusiasm, she told me that “I think ReGeneration is exactly what a young entrepreneur needs in order to work in the agri-food sector. I hope I can participate and look forward to it! “.

Greek mythology says that at Mount Othrys, the Titans had been fortified during the great battle with the gods of Olympus and from there, they launched huge rocks towards Mount Olympus. But apart from the myths and stories, Mount Othrys has been and continues to be a source of natural wealth, as its peak is full with high quality herbal tea.

I met Constantinos Damianos and Christos Mylonas, members of the Othrys Herbs team, and they talked to me about their love of herbs and more specifically herbal tea, while explaining how they ended up creating tea in Nespresso-like capsules.

Constantinos and Christos originate from the same place, the Almyros area in Magnesia, under the shadow of Mount Othrys, which lies between the counties of Magnesia and Fthiotida and borders Thessaly and northern Central Greece. So, as soon as the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program announced that it would conduct training seminars on aromatic and medicinal plants in the Almyros area, they both decided to participate without a second thought.

Constantinos is both a farmer and a mechanical engineer and has always been involved in aromatic plants, but nevertheless he felt he lacked the theoretical background and wanted to gain more knowledge, so he decided to participate in the aromatic plant training program. “I remember my childhood years, in the summers, I was collecting wild native aromatic plants. I knew that I wanted to work with aromatic plants. But because of my lack of expertise, I didn’t know how to do it right. That’s where the program came and now, I can say that I feel like I’ve finally got the knowledge I want! ”

Christos, on the other hand, has studied agronomy and has been professionally involved in aromatic plants before which seems only natural, since Christos family has a tradition of dealing with these sorts of plants. Both his parents and grandparents were working with aromatic plants and herbal tea.  But he, too, felt that he wanted to concentrate and develop his knowledge in the field, as he says there was no university specialization in the specific area.

But one might ask, what is the capsule tea inspired by the Almyros Group as part of the training seminars of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program? The answer is that it is an innovative product that uses capsules compatible with Nespresso machines containing mixtures of aromatic plants. The main variety they use is called “raiser” in Greek, or simply herbal tea, and they also use varieties like chamomile, sage and mint, all harvested from the mythical Titans mountain.

“One afternoon, after we finished training, we sat down as a team and said we wanted to do something innovative, something different. So, after brainstorming and discussion, the idea came up and we decided to create herbal tea in Nespresso-like capsules so that it can be compatible with capsule coffee machines” says Christos. “At the end of the seminar, we had to implement a project in which everyone had to present a business idea. We came up with the idea of capsule tea as a group and started working on it gradually, “adds Constantinos. The idea follows the general philosophy of coffee capsules, as the team wanted to create a user-friendly product which is easier and faster to make. In the case of Othrys Herbs, I might say that tea capsules are not only easy and fun to make but they are also extremely beneficial for our health.

The Almyros team, however, is also interested in leaving the smallest possible carbon footprint through the production of its tea capsules. So, although they are now using standard capsules as their product is still in a pilot phase, they have designed a biodegradable paper capsule. “Unlike coffee, which has to be put in a protected environment so that it does not lose its aromas after milling, we do not have such a problem as our product is already dried. Therefore, we do not need sealing on the packaging. This allows us to use paper, which on the one hand costs less but it also has a lower carbon footprint, thus helping to protect the environment” says Constantinos. The packaging and the design they have created for their product reflects its character, as the colors are are the ones found in nature and the lines are simple. In fact, Christos has also created the logo that they will use, which depicts Mount Othrys, the trademark of their group.

Their goal is to make steady steps as a company. After they come up with the choice of the best mixes of aromatic plants and then place them in biodegradable paper capsules, their aim is to expand to markets other than Greek. “We would like to target, for example, the Russian market, because hot drinks like tea, and not so much coffee, are part of the country’s culture but they do not have products to cover their needs” says Constantinos.

And he continues by saying that “The response from the people so far is impressive. It certainly goes far beyond my expectations! ” Christos added that “I was hesitant at first, I can admit. But along the way, I tried it and I really liked it. Both as an idea and as a result”.

They both stressed the importance of their participation in the training program on aromatic plants as well as the fact that it took place in Almyros area. As Constantinos says, “It was really a big deal that the seminars took place in our area. We had the opportunity to participate without leaving anything behind! ” And he added that “The knowledge I gained through the program was very important. The courses had a great flow and the level of our trainers was really high. For me, the knowledge I received was fundamental, I see it every day in my work and I am improving. ”

Christos laughed and added that “First of all without the program we wouldn’t be talking about our product now! But beyond that, we got to know new people, we came up with new ideas, we were able to participate in exhibitions and get in touch with potential clients and professionals in the field. And though an agronomist, I was able to specialize in what interested me, aromatic plants.”

I can admit that after all this talk, I was curious to try the tea in capsules and had the opportunity to do so,  at the “New Agriculture for a New Generation”’s Booth at the 28^th  Agrotica, where the beneficiaries of the program presented the products and their services to the people that visited the expo. So, I was able to see closely how the tea capsules were made, and then I tried different varieties of beverages made by Othrys Herbs. I must say that reading about it is one thing but trying it, well, that’s far better!