This year, one of the people embodying this spirit, Mr. Evripides Kontos, President and Founder of Kontos Foods, was the honoree, receiving the prestigious “Distinguished Merit Award”. FOX Business Anchor Nicole Petallides was the evening’s mc, introducing an array of distinguished speakers who saluted Mr. Kontos and his achievements, among them the Ambassador of Cyprus to Washington, Mr. Andreas Kakouris, the Consul General of Greece in New York, Ambassador Aghie Balta, the President of the Chamber, Mr. Dennis Droushiotis, and the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Andreas Comodromos. Also in attendance were the Honorable Koula Sophianou, Consul General of Cyprus to New York, Mr. Peter Papanicolaou, President of the Cyprus Federation of America and Archimandrite Eugene Pappas, representing Archbishop Demetrios. Philip Christopher, President of PSEKA, was scheduled to introduce Mr. Kontos, but due to a business engagement could not be at the event and his congratulatory message was read by Nicole Petallides. A heartfelt presentation to Mr. Kontos was delivered by his eldest son, Steve, who visibly moved went beyond the entrepreneurial side of his father’s personality, recalling stories and incidents that spoke volumes to the kind of person he is.
Evripides (Evris) Kontos began his career working at a bakery in Cyprus after school. This bakery made hand-stretched fillo dough and fillo products. There, he developed the first ideas of mass production of fillo. At the age of 16, he left school and his job and with a loan from his uncle, he started his own business producing fillo for bakeries. Soon he was shipping to bakeries all over the island of Cyprus. A new chapter in Evris’ life opened when an uncle from the United States urged him to come to America.
He arrived in New York in 1949 and he quickly proved his ingenuity in the production of fillo by streamlining the process, thereby increasing productivity and making it more profitable. By 1968, Evris had begun his own company in Dumont, NJ producing fillo dough. Shortly after that, Mr. Kontos moved his other company that produced spanakopita, tyropita, baklava, and kataifi into the same facility. Their hand-stretched fillo and other Mediterranean confections were distributed to restaurateurs and bakeries throughout the metropolitan New York area, as well as sold in the storefront.
Today, the Kontos Flatbread product line has expanded to over 22 varieties, more than any other flatbread baker. It is widely used in country clubs, hotels, restaurants, and business and industry cafeterias. It is sold at retail through specialty food stores and supermarkets throughout the country. Kontos also exports to Japan, Singapore, Jakarta, Canada and the Caribbean.
The Cyprus – U.S. Chamber of Commerce was incorporated in 1998. The Chamber’s purpose is to help potential investors open doors and offer advice on foreign investment projects and introductions to Cypriot partners, exclusive briefings by private and government officials and much more.
The Chamber’s charismatic President and founding member Dennis C. Droushiotis is the former Trade Commissioner in the United States for the Republic of Cyprus. During his tenure there, he implemented export promotion programs that saw Cypriot exports to the United States increase from $700,000 to over $32 million.
