Sousamli C.OAgiasos Bakery
The Sousamli bakery in Agiasos began its operation in the previous century, by the ancestor of the family and as the Sousamlis family characteristically refers to him, by “grandfather” Michalis.
The young Michalis Sousamlis, when he found time, would go around on his bicycle and sell simitias. He was an apprentice as a child in various bakeries in Mytilene and Agiasos. However, he received his basic training as a baker from the baker Giannakos, who even convinced him that he deserved to become a baker. He taught him the art of Asia Minor and especially the seven-kneaded doughs that are made in ideal conditions of sterilization and cleanliness, from yeast that is still made by hand from chickpeas.
He apprenticed and worked alongside Giannakos from 1960 to 1968. Giannakos was from Cappadocia and came to Agiasos, Lesvos in 1922, as a refugee of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, bringing with him the unique traditional art of Eptazymos. Giannakos’ children had emigrated to Australia and so in 1968, when he retired, he proposed that his beloved student buy his business. Michalis was an orphan of a father and very poor, but in order to manage to buy it, he sold a large estate that had been his mother’s dowry.
Michalis Sousamlissince 1968
FAMILY SOUSAMLIsince 1978
In 1999 they opened their first branch in Agiasos, seeing the needs that had arisen near more crowded parts of the village. At the same time, Dimitra took over the management and Stratos exclusively the production. The brothers had now married and their spouses joined the business.
The turning point came soon after, with the help of subsidized programs from the European Union. This helped them to increase and modernize the company’s mechanical equipment, actions that continue to this day.
In 2001, the second branch was opened in the village of Ippeios on Lesvos and they began to produce larger quantities of rusks, which they distributed through resellers throughout the island. The products began to become even better known and increasingly in demand, both on the island of Lesvos and throughout Greece. However, due to inexperience in large-scale trade, the growth of the company was still small.
In 2015, another branch was opened in the settlement of Dipi on Lesvos, which also went impressively well. That was when the most important thing in the company’s development happened. A group of processors created a cluster of companies and they wanted them with them. Now the company’s growth in larger markets has begun.
At the same time, the children of Stratis and Dimitra, having studied at bakery and pastry schools, enter the work and become the third productive generation of Sousamlis. Evangelia in pastry, Michalis and Fotis in bakery, the youngest Stratos and son-in-law Nikos in management.
The next branch in the center of Mytilene and its success made their products even better known and consolidated their momentum. Now it participates in exhibitions with company stands that showcase their range of products, to Greek and foreign resellers and wholesalers, creating the bases for exporting the products. Which makes the next step of the company, the creation of an innovative bakery unit, which is now in progress, more imperative.
The company currently employs over 20 employees and has been certified by TUV AUSTRIA (EN ISO 22000:2005) for its management system.
From generation to generation, the Sousamlis family, honoring the tradition of their ancestors, emphasizing the quality of raw materials but also respecting the consumer and the environment, continues the family’s common vision, producing unique, traditional but also modern, quality baked goods and confectionery products that bear the name of a long-standing heritage that bears the name “Sousamlis – Agiasos Bakery”.
StoresAgiasos Bakery
Agiasos
Workshop & Main Store
Mytilene
Store
At the park of Agias Irinis, at the center of city Mytilini.
Dipi
Bread & Pastry Shop
In the picturesque fishing village, on the main road.