The Greek Pasta Maker Cracking the Italian Club
A family-run pasta factory in Kilkis, northern Greece, just made a list that Italian brands have dominated for decades. In March 2026, global food platform TasteAtlas ranked MAKVEL-EURIMAC among the world's top 100 pasta products, with two separate entries. It was the only Greek company on the list.
MAKVEL was founded in 1939 by the Konstantinidis family and has been based in Kilkis ever since. The company is now Greece's largest pasta producer and exporter, shipping to 60 countries from North America and Cuba to South Africa and Japan. Exports account for 55% of total sales, and the company produces 50% of all Greek pasta sold internationally.
The partnership that built much of that export strength was famously sealed on a napkin. On Valentine's Day 1996, MAKVEL chairman Stavros Konstantinidis and the head of Italian group Euricom sketched out their deal at a fish tavern in Nea Krini. "It was Valentine's Day. Maybe it was meant to be," Konstantinidis said, noting that mutual respect has defined the relationship ever since.
The company runs on 100% renewable electricity since 2013 and burns 10,000 tons of biomass annually to dry its pasta, replacing fossil fuels entirely. It achieved a 99.98% zero-waste production rate and was certified as Greece's most sustainable food company for 2025.
CEO Odysseas Papadopoulos said the next goal is to move from fourth to third largest pasta brand in Europe, adding that the gap is not as wide as it once was. The company's own brand grew 77.2% in volume between 2022 and 2025, compared to 5.3% growth for the wider pasta market in the same period.
MAKVEL is also the only Greek company producing pasta using the slow-drying method, which gives its products a texture and quality standard that helped crack open what Papadopoulos described as a "closed Italian club."
