Home › Archive for Cyprus

Category: Cyprus

By Posted on Posted in Cyprus, Economy No Comments

Cyprus-map Cyprus, the beautiful Mediterranean island which is my all time favorite destination, for business and pleasure, is in deep trouble since 2 weeks. here is my opinion from a non-financial view and tryign to simplify it for the people who had no idea what is goign on in Cyprus.

Cyprus got stuck in this banks bailout with the Troika (European Central Bank (ECB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Eurozone partners) and a deadline to secure 7 billions out of the 17 billions they need which 10 billions will come from the EU.

The main problem started when Cyprus banks started buying Greek bonds because of the over extra cash they had on hand from the Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs and after the total failure of Greece these bonds became useless and had no real values anymore.

Now for those who think that the Russian will come helping Cyprus, this is another fictional theory which will never happen. Why will Russia come to save those who are trying to run away from paying taxes in the motherland and put all their fortunes in a tax-haven called Cyprus with super treatment and lots of advantages?

Cyprus has some opportunities in the newly discovered natural gas fields, but will the Russian win the bid of exploring it and the Europeans stay watching? This we have to wait and see as it needs some time to be cleared.

Did the Cypriots offer the Russian a deal over military bases in the Mediterranean in case something goes wrong in Tartouss, but what about the British bases on the island? Another theory.

I think the Orthodox Church of Cyprus can be the savior at one point in time, as a major stakeholder in Hellenic Bank, can the church come back to power as the old days of Archbishop Makarios?

If you need more news about the Cyprus financial crisis, please check the Cyprus Daily.

Cash only sign on Ledra Street in Nicosia on 24-03-2013
Cash only sign on Ledra Street in Nicosia on 24-03-2013

By Posted on Posted in Brands, Culture, Cyprus, Food, Greece, Packaging, Private Label No Comments

Private labels are gaining huge market shares mainly in Europe and soon worldwide, but the most enjoyable part of launching a private label product is the adaptation to the local culture and taste.

Food products are the most sensitive to local tastes and habits.

An international company has several options when choosing a brand strategy. Brands may be local, regional and global. And this is the Carrefour & its Feta private label case.

Carrefour is worldwide No.2 retailer behind Walmart and Feta is a traditional Greek cheese appreciated around the world and have now very different names because since 2002, Feta has been a protected designation of origin product in the European Union, which means Feta only produced in Greece can be called Feta, any type of Feta produced outside Greece, cannot be named Feta.

Carrefour who is very active on its private label range and changing its global strategy by putting more pressure on its supplier and shifting in almost all categories of its shelves and pushing PL products forward and this is becoming somehow very obvious in their leaflets (no matter the market), has adapted a local strategy in Greece and Cyprus by launching their Feta.

The Carrefour Feta has no dedicated private brand, but simply using the Carrefour logo.

The main factors affecting the decisions to adapt products to local markets can be divided into 3 categories (Source: Sasu 2005, p. 148):

Market characteristics:

  • Government regulations
  • Non-tariff barriers
  • Consumer models
  • Competition
  • Level of economic development
  • Legal

Product characteristics

  • Functions, attributes
  • Durability, quality
  • Methods of operation and use
  • Brand and packaging
  • Life cycle
  • Country of origin

Company characteristics

  • Profitability
  • The cost of adaptation
  • Organization
  • Resources
  • Policies adopted
  • Experience

The below Carrefour Feta can be found in Greece and Cyprus stores, but the company can easily export this product to its worldwide stores.

To find out more about Feta, visit FetaMania

By Posted on Posted in Cyprus, Hard Discount, Retail No Comments

In October 2010, Lidl opened it frist 2 stores in Cyprus, then came another 8 locations to increase the total number of stores to 10 by May 2011.

Furthermore, it aims to achieve a double digit share of the retail sector as plans also include attaining a turnover of 90 mln euros by the end of year 2011.

This aggressive marketing approach pushed Orphanides to declare a plan to open 11 Orphanides Express stores throughout the island offering “the lowest prices” in the market, challenging Lidl’s worldwide reputation of “quality buys at smart prices”.

Last week while in Nicosia, I visited a Lidl store and i was really impressed by the traffic they were having. 8 busy check-outs with almost full shopping carts. Mainly foreigners and expats are loyal consumers to Lidl in Cyprus as I understood from our local friends.

By Posted on Posted in Countries, Cyprus 1 Comment Tagged with , , ,

I was in Cyprus on Wednesday and as most of you know, Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus is the last divided capital in the world after the invasion of the Turkish forces for the island in 1974.

At the end of Ledra street in Nicosia, you could for many years, walk and get to the wall that turned into a landmark of the invasion history. In a peaceful step during April 2008, both Cypriot and Turkish authorities decided to break down the wall in order to give a push for their talks in order to unify the island again.

While strolling on Ledra on Wednesday with my Cypriot friend Marios, he proposed talking a walk to the Turkish side, funniest thing happened when at the Turkish police checkpoint, you have to issue a visa, which is a piece of paper, I got a visa valid for 10 days stay, while Marios had his visa for 90 days stay.

Having a Lebanese passport i would 100% understand my need for a “visa”, but how sarcastic it is for a Cypriot to need a visa just walk to the other side of his own country capital.

15042009023