Kotronis Packaging Employees Bid Farewell to Company Founder
“Kotronis Packaging” Regrets to Announce the Passing of Founder Konstantinos Kotronis
December 6, 2020
Kotronis Packaging in the Age of Industry 4.0
April 22, 2021
It is with profound sadness that we bid farewell to the founder of Kotronis Packaging, Konstantinos Kotronis, who is no longer with us. He passed away at the age of 86 on Sunday, 6 December 2020, surrounded by his family.
Konstantinos Kotronis was born in Artotina in 1934. He was the third child of the family of Ioannis and Vasiliki Kotronis. In 1947, his family moved to Nafpaktos, following the course of the rest of the Artotines who moved to other towns. To support his family financially, he worked as a street seller of cigarettes, sweets, and simit. At the same time, urged by an old street seller, he learned the art of making sesame seed candy, using a pot at home to make his first bar. In the late 50's, he left for Athens in search of something better. There, he continued producing and selling sesame seed candy, which sold out immediately. He now employed 25 people and was looking for a new space, but also a new method of candy preparation, as until then his mother was the one who sifted sesame in the old traditional way.
After a decade in sesame seed candy production, Konstantinos Kotronis realised the new demands of the times and purchased the first machine producing plastic containers. His idea was to sell the sesame seed candy he made in plastic packaging so that it would be better preserved. In the early 1970s, he sold the sesame seed candy business, determined to focus exclusively on food packaging. He started his new business, and his first collaborations were with salad and confectionery companies.
In 1978, Konstantinos Kotronis and wife Panagiota, a teacher, decided to leave Athens and return to their hometown with their children. The company headquarters was transferred first to Kastraki and then in new state-of-the-art facilities in Malamata Efpalio. Since then, the company has been constantly growing, collaborating with the largest food companies in the country and implementing important innovations in the packaging of foods such as feta, yoghurt and salad.
Kotronis Packaging has been integrally linked to Konstantinos Kotronis’ life, work, and personality; the values that he passed on to his family and associates, including hard work, prudence, and humility, have permeated the company since 1971.
Konstantinos Kotronis was an excellent husband and father of a large family. He also had strong ties with the Church and made an important contribution to the local community and society at large.
He had only recently retired from active business in 2016, after launching the company transition to the new era. Today we can pride ourselves in being one of the most prominent packaging companies in the country, the fruit of Konstantinos Kotronis’ effort and toil.
All of us at Kotronis Packaging extend our sincere condolences to our founder’s family.
May he rest in peace..
