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(From left to right) Chanel Area Director Herve Ducros; Folli Follie Group Deputy Vice President Kaiti Koutsolioutsos; Distillery Plomari Isidorou Arvanitou Vice President Nikos Kalogiannis; Folli Follie Group Vice President Dimitrios Koutsolioutsos; and Folli Follie Group Deputy CEO & General Manager Giorgos Velentzas |
GREECE. Hellenic Duty Free Shops named French fragrances & cosmetics house Chanel and local firm Isidoros Arvanitis Ouzo of Plomari as its Suppliers of the Year at an award ceremony on Wednesday.
The event, now in its second year, aims to honour valuable associates distinguished for their business performance and strategy.
The evaluation criteria used in selecting award winners are as follows:
1. An increase in sales throughout the year compared to 2010
2. Creativity and innovativeness
3. The launching of new and successful products
4. Reliability, reciprocation, flexibility and adaptibility as far as cooperation is concerned
5. Quality of roducts
6. The creation and implementation of successful promotional activities
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Isidoros Arvanitis Ouzo of Plomari: rejuvenating a category |
Chanel and Isidoros Arvanitis Ouzo of Plomari were commended for their “effective strategic approach and outstanding performance at a time when creativity and innovativeness constitute the only way to success”.
In 2011, Chanel achieved an +11.53% increase in duty free and duty paid sales. It also stood out for “the reliability and creativity of its promotional activities and the way its products were presented and promoted,” said Hellenic Duty Free Shops.
Chanel’s award was given by Kaiti Koutsolioutsos, Deputy Vice President of Folli Follie Group (Hellenic Duty Free Shops’ lead shareholder) to Herve Ducros, Chanel Area Director.
Addressing Giorgos Velentzas, Deputy CEO & General Manager of the Folli Follie Group, Ducros said: “I do not forget Mr Velentzas that you have been named Greek Quality Leader for 2011. You were saying when receiving this award that Hellenic Duty Free places importance on quality relationships with employees and with clients.
“I can today fully confirm that we see this quality in all aspects of the Hellenic Duty Free business.
“As a conclusion I will use a Mademoiselle [founder Coco Chanel – Ed] statement: She used to say: “I did not look like anyone; it was the secret of my success”. I believe that Hellenic Duty Free is not like every company, which also explains your success.”
In the case of Ouzo Plomari, the successful entrepreneur and founder of the company Nikos Kallogiannis was recognised for the way in which he had gained distinction for a purely local product and turned it into a brand with an international reputation. He had also upgraded the image of ouzo, a category which had long been considered outdated, Hellenic Duty Free Shops said.
During his speech, Kallogiannis thanked Dimitrios Koutsolioutsos, President of Folli Follie Group, and commended Hellenic Duty Free Shops. Koutsolioutsos commented: “Nikos and I are friends for 50 years. I am very happy to honour today a special friend and a successful businessman.”
Giorgos Velentzas summed up the occasion when he said: “Associates – suppliers – are the driving force behind Hellenic Duty Free Shops’ ability to offer innovative, distinctive products at totally competitive prices.
“This event is our way of saying “˜thank you’ to our associates for their long and effective cooperation and also of requesting their continued support for the company’s commercial policy and new development plans.”
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Folli Follie Group CEO Giorgos Koutsolioutsos and Chanel Area Director Herve Ducros |
