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P. 86
Α Athens insider's guide
17 > ATHENS FOOD LOVERS GUIDE > THE EXPERT > THE INITIATIVE > 2BOARD PICKS
Paul Efmorfidis EDITOR: VIVI VOURTSA , photo: giannis dimotsis
Riding High & Green
His briefcase is filled with the dreams and innovative ideas that make content Coco-Mat
customers ambassadors of Greece. | Ο χαρτοφύλακας του είναι γεμάτος όνειρα και πρωτοποριακές
ιδέες, που κάνουν τους ευχαριστημένους πελάτες της Coco-Mat πρέσβεις της Ελλάδας.
B icycles are my passion” says Pavlos
Efmorfidis, founder of Coco-Mat, a
company that has been recognised
with numerous important awards
and distinctions for its quality and innovative
methods, its environmentally-friendly prod-
ucts and interest in ecology. He strongly sup-
ports using bicycles as a means of transpor-
tation, stating it is the most natural thing; he
also encourages unorthodox practices such as
brainstorming on a trampoline. And it works
– as “naturally” as his company’s reputation,
which is rapidly being circulated “word of
mouth” across the globe.
Looking back over the last 25 years since the
foundation of Coco-Mat, what would you say
has been the secret to its success?
Where there is success, there are no secrets.
What do multi-award winning companies
have to do in order to stay at the forefront of
innovation?
Take the forefront as the starting point.
What gap in the tourist market do the COCO-
MAT Hotels and Resorts fill?
The holes created by computers and crunch-
ing numbers.
What have the reactions and experiences of
your guests taught you?
That we should never neglect the child in us.
What is the idea behind the innovative design
of your new wooden bicycles?
The shiny plastic rubbish from the East that
has been appearing throughout Greece over
the last years, which is practically choking us.
As a team who appreciates the imagination, we
wanted to show that the Greece of Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle also manufactures the fin-
est bicycles on the planet, crafted from Greek
wood and aluminium, designed by Greeks with
desire and passion.
How could Athens be transformed into a city
that embraces eco-friendly transport such as
Amsterdam?
The city is its citizens. We first have to change
ourselves, and then we can change the appear-
ance of the city. The fact that “conditions” may
never be opportune, that “preconditions” are
86
17 > ATHENS FOOD LOVERS GUIDE > THE EXPERT > THE INITIATIVE > 2BOARD PICKS
Paul Efmorfidis EDITOR: VIVI VOURTSA , photo: giannis dimotsis
Riding High & Green
His briefcase is filled with the dreams and innovative ideas that make content Coco-Mat
customers ambassadors of Greece. | Ο χαρτοφύλακας του είναι γεμάτος όνειρα και πρωτοποριακές
ιδέες, που κάνουν τους ευχαριστημένους πελάτες της Coco-Mat πρέσβεις της Ελλάδας.
B icycles are my passion” says Pavlos
Efmorfidis, founder of Coco-Mat, a
company that has been recognised
with numerous important awards
and distinctions for its quality and innovative
methods, its environmentally-friendly prod-
ucts and interest in ecology. He strongly sup-
ports using bicycles as a means of transpor-
tation, stating it is the most natural thing; he
also encourages unorthodox practices such as
brainstorming on a trampoline. And it works
– as “naturally” as his company’s reputation,
which is rapidly being circulated “word of
mouth” across the globe.
Looking back over the last 25 years since the
foundation of Coco-Mat, what would you say
has been the secret to its success?
Where there is success, there are no secrets.
What do multi-award winning companies
have to do in order to stay at the forefront of
innovation?
Take the forefront as the starting point.
What gap in the tourist market do the COCO-
MAT Hotels and Resorts fill?
The holes created by computers and crunch-
ing numbers.
What have the reactions and experiences of
your guests taught you?
That we should never neglect the child in us.
What is the idea behind the innovative design
of your new wooden bicycles?
The shiny plastic rubbish from the East that
has been appearing throughout Greece over
the last years, which is practically choking us.
As a team who appreciates the imagination, we
wanted to show that the Greece of Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle also manufactures the fin-
est bicycles on the planet, crafted from Greek
wood and aluminium, designed by Greeks with
desire and passion.
How could Athens be transformed into a city
that embraces eco-friendly transport such as
Amsterdam?
The city is its citizens. We first have to change
ourselves, and then we can change the appear-
ance of the city. The fact that “conditions” may
never be opportune, that “preconditions” are
86
