In the years of the major financial crisis and within an rather adverse environment there are small, distinctive production efforts which have gained the admiration of most.
Imaginative young people with an experience of the modern world, rather than wallow in unemployment, underemployment or employment in unrelated fields, tested their strengths and capabilities and dedicated themselves with a passion and modern spirit to the production of goods.
With few resources and using knowledge and a contemporary understanding of marketing as a tool, they developed advantaged and produced distinguished products which could leave a mark in the small local markets and later bigger and greater ones.
The sector of microbreweries is one such example…
At some point these small ale production units started springing up in various places across the country – first in Komotini, Tinos, Rethymno and Piraeus and later elsewhere – based these precise, aforementioned beliefs.
Over time a critical mass of microbreweries with exceptional products, distinguished flavors, beautiful appearance and even better labels emerged.
For some time they were in a constant struggle simple to get a footing in the market.
The distribution networks were under the control of the familiar beer and soft-drink cartels, which are established by the multinationals in the sector that systematically and in an organized manner prevent new producers and products from entering the market.
The legislators, in recognizing the additional difficulties which young, hopeful microbrewers faced and in order to facilitate their development, introduced lower tax rates up to a certain volume of production.
In the new OECD toolkit, which is meant to provide reforms and deregulation policies for the market, a provision was “planted” that abolished the so-called tax advantage of microbreweries, in the name of course of the proliferation of a fully competitive environment.
Of course nobody considered that the Greek beer market is not competitive, bur rather under the control and defined by the will of multinationals.
The foreign experts may be unaware, under control or appointed for this precise reason, but what about our government and officers, who praise the prospects of the country and economy’s reconstruction? Are they not aware of what is going on?
Do they not drink and notice that there are only certain labels on the market? To find the product of a microbrewery you have to search all over Athens and even then, it is doubtful whether you will find a store that stocks them.
Truth be told, if a left-wing government cannot defend the rights of microbrewers against the multinationals, then it has no luck…
Antonis Karakousis
