creat
Vision, Mission, Values
CRETE
About the Island
The CREaTAN team
Our People
Products
Crunch, Dress, Glaze, Sauce, Mist & Ready to Eat
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Crete is the largest and most populous island in Greece, with a coastline of 650 miles and mountains climbing over 6000 feet.
It is also the birthplace of Europe’s first advanced civilization, which existed over 5000 years ago, the Minoans! Blessed with fertile land, an abundance of fresh produce and olive trees as far as the eye can see, the Mediterranean diet was born shortly thereafter. To the Minoans, their diet was their way of life, their love of life and all its joys.
Even today, the people of Crete love to eat, to eat together and to eat well. Perhaps this is why the city of Heraklion is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, why Taste Atlas and the UN alike vote the Cretan diet as the best in the world, and why we definitely consider Crete to be the foodies island!
More honorable mentions:
Crete, European Region of Gastronomy
Forbes Lifestyle Travel “Step Aside, Santorini: Crete’s the Next Hot Spot in Greece”
Harvard, Yale & C.I.A organize a symposium in Crete on the Cretan diet and way of living every year
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So, we decided to create CREAT!
Our vision? A better world where the authentic Cretan way of living - aka the Cretan diet with its traditional products and gastronomy - is recognized as a universal cultural asset that provides balanced answers to the quest of humanity for sustainable wellbeing.
Our mission? Introducing the Cretan diet to the world as a joyous, balanced, healthy and sustainable way of living. Better for you, better for the planet.
Our passion is our love of life, taste, and innovation. Our ethos is our mindfulness, confidence, and authenticity. Our reason is our sustainability, democracy in our ease of adoption, and our health.
We currently have 4 product categories: Crunch, Dress/Glaze/Sauce, Mist, and Ready to Eat!
crunch, DRESS, GLAZE, SAUCE, MIST, READY TO EAT
With “Crunch,” our goal is to disrupt the breakfast category, changing the way we eat breakfast. So, we deconstructed the Cretan Dakos Salad and isolated its most essential ingredient: the dakos. In fact, we shrinked and slightly softened the large and hard dakos to delectable “Dacos Bites,” creating a convenient base for versatile Cretan Breakfast Bowls. 4 “Dacos Bites” - Classic, Cacao, Raisin, Protein - and endless serving suggestions.
Our condiment category is called “Dress, Glaze, Sauce,” and is always made with real fruit and vegetables that flourish on Crete’s fertile soil. They are full of flavor and nutrients, and totally free from any additives and seed oils. Drip, drizzle & BBQ.
We also offer fresh, garlic-flavored, Greek summer-flavored, chili-flavored, and truffle-flavored Extra Virgin Olives Oil in the form of a “Mist.” Season, sauté & BBQ.
Finally (for the time being, that is), we decided to honor Crete’s most iconic pies: the marathopita (made with fennel) and the sfakianopita (made with cheese and topped with honey), keeping their original ingredients, precooking, individually packaging and deep-freezing them. As a result, you can now enjoy this characteristic taste of Crete wherever you are in 7 minutes in a preheated oven or 2 minutes in a microwave, no defrosting required. Absolutely convenient with absolutely no compromise in flavor or quality, and most of all “Ready to Eat”!
THE CREATAN TEAM
Aris Kefalogiannis, CEO
A seasoned executive, entrepreneur and innovator, with 25 years of experience in the international fine foods arena. As founder and former head of GAEA - the most successful Greek olive oil/olives/specialty food products brand internationally - Aris led GAEA to become the 1st Greek company to ever win the Import/Export category in the 2013 European Business Awards.
Sotiris Lymperopoulos, COO
Sotiris studied Economics in Greece and has a Master on Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Cranfield University. He left his carrier in 2010 and moved to Messinia where he launched “Radiki,” a business promoting the wild greens and fine food of Greece all over the world. He is the COO of Creat and in charge of the supply chain management of the company. Sotiris loves windsurfing, ski and climbing high mountains.
Chrisa Papagiannopoulou, Export Manager
Business development professional with a demonstrated history of working in exports and international business environments in the specialty food industry. Skilled in Marketing Management, Budgeting, Sales, Operations as well as NPD projects. Strong experience in identifying new business opportunities and developing existing customer portfolios working with leading distributors worldwide as well as on a direct retail basis across all categories, branded and private label. Served from 2005 to 2020 as Export Sales Director of Gaea Products SA, a leading Greek company with 82% of its turnover established in exports, producing and selling high quality and innovative Greek products, olive oil, olives and other novelties, in 35 markets. A team player always maintaining a positive spirit!