How does Naomidis prepare his peppers?
I had seen Petros Naoumidis presenting his family's success story, the organic peppers of Florinis Naoumidis, at the interesting conference of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food at the recent Agrotica. "We are new in this area, we export to several countries, but don't imagine any behemoth: we have a small production and we are a purely family business", he emphasized.
Since 1972, the Naoumidis family has owned a restaurant at Lake Vegoritida, in Agios Panteleimonas, Florina prefecture. They stocked their own products exclusively for the needs of the restaurant until, in 2008, they decided to do it on a larger scale. "We are a big family, about 15 people, and we all work," says Mr. Naoumidis. "We want to maintain this format for now as it is our way of ensuring the quality of our products."
And what quality! From the beginning to the end, by the hand of Naumidis. From 'genuine' seeds grown in the place where the pepper thrives at its best, to processing the old, traditional way: one pepper at a time is grilled and peeled by hand. "Each of our products follows a story, has its own way of collection and processing. We have specialized in pepper, ours has nothing to do with the industrial engineering of the trade".
Naoumidis products are available in stores with specialized quality products in Athens and Thessaloniki. Abroad "it's not easy to get into the shops. They require you to be special. They want to see local varieties, they see that we go to sell them cabernet and sauvignon and they wonder why we want to sell them their own products!"
According to Mr. Naumidis, "Italy is the most difficult country for exports. But it was the first country we exported to! The committee at the first exhibition we participated rated us as the best. We have knowledge, we have history and it shows in the product. For our customers abroad, the microclimate is very important, that we unearth old recipes, but above all that the processing takes place at the place of cultivation. This means that nothing is lost from the moment the pepper is cut. Our fresh pepper does not travel.”
The farm of the Naumidis family is located at an altitude of 600 meters while the processing and packaging takes place in their stone-built facility, a living example of a harmonious combination of traditional architecture and modern facilities. In fact, in order to ensure the quality and authenticity of the specific variety, they maintain their own nursery. The seeds come from dried peppers of the previous harvest.
And this is how they intend, for the time being, to proceed: without grandiose plans, but only with the flag of quality and consistency.
Naumidis peppers, piperiesflorinis.com
Lake Vegoritida, Agios Panteleimonas, Florina
Tel. and Fax: +30 23860 61438
Production Unit: +30 23860 61238
piperiesflorinis@gmail.com, violetp9@gmail.com (Secretariat)