60 years on, KEAN exports rise
“World of orange” exhibition marks anniversary
The leading fruit drinks maker, KEAN, celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, taking on new challenges in the local and international markets, where exports have risen in recent years to 30-40% of their output.
Kikoula Kotsapa, chairman of the family-run company, said that exports are now focused in two areas – ready products and raw materials.
“We try to buy as much Cyprus citrus fruits as possible and our excess supply is exported in condensed form,” she added, during a preview of the company’s art exhibition to mark its six decades of operation.
“We utilise all of the fruit and extracts starting from the juice that is packed without preservatives, to the aromatic oils which are separated and sold to pharmaceutical or cosmetics companies, while the fruit peels are sent to local farmers who enrich their feed for the animals,” Kotsapa said.
This has helped propel the company’s turnover to about 30 mln euros a year, employing 106 people in the fruit juices factory and a further 100 in other subsidiaries in the related foods business.
“Our fruit drinks are exported to 32 countries, but we also hear some amazing stories about our KEAN juices reaching the most out-of-the-way places in the world,” she added.
Marios Kassapis, the company’s general manager, said that KEAN is committed to its staff and to the local community.
“We want to stay employers, despite all the difficulties of the current market environment,” he said, adding that the island’s leading fruit juice maker relies heavily on its loyal local consumers. “Cyprus has one of the highest per capita consumption for soft drinks in the world.”
Marketing Director Evi Papadopoulou said that the brand name has remained unchanged from its earliest days and that the unique rings on the glass bottles of fizzy juices have been kept on the new plastic bottles.
“Our colourful factory buildings along Yermasoyia’s coastal road and the pair of concrete bottles standing guard at the plant’s entrance have become landmarks, even though modern methods of fruit collection and processing have been introduced over the years.”
“We recycle every bit of our production,” Papadopoulou said, explaining that KEAN’s founder, Takis Christodoulou, had introduced production methods that were considered as advanced for their time in the 1960s and 70s.
In the 1950s soft drinks maker Schweppes visited KEAN to learn about fizzy juice production and bought large volumes of juice for several decades. The 1960s saw KEAN’s cooperation with Pepsi and later with Canada Dry, while the 1970-s were marked by the Turkish invasion and the introduction of new products. The 1980s saw the arrival of packed juices using the Tetra Pak technology for longer life, while the 1990s saw news business deals that led to new products and packaging after 2000.
Reminiscing KEAN’s 60-year history through a presentation of classic black-and-white and colour advertisements, such as “Mia KEAN” and “Aaah, KEAN”, Papadopoulou said that the company has decided to celebrate its anniversary by commissioning local artists to paint or create new art using 60 identical pieces of hand-crafted clay oranges as part of “The KEAN World of Orange” exhibition at the Olympic House in Nicosia this week.
The exhibition will later move around Cyprus and all 60 pieces will be auctioned at the end of the year, with proceeds going to three local charities – Europa Donna, Saint Stephanos home for mentally handicapped people and the Child Welfare Association.
