🏭 Melissa Kikizas

Melissa Kikizas is a Greek pasta maker. Alexandros Kikizas founded the company in Athens in 1947, and its first factory worked in the capital. In 1962 it installed its first automatic production line, and in 1967 it automated packing. In 1974 a mill was built in Larissa, Thessaly, to grind semolina for the company's own pasta factory, and in 1980 pasta production moved there too, so the mill and the factory share one site. After a five-year modernisation programme completed in 2010, the Larissa plant reached a capacity of 90,000 tonnes of pasta a year; in 2019 a new mill for 440 tonnes of grain a day was added. The third generation of the Kikizas family now runs the company, whose head office is in Athens.

The main raw material is durum wheat. Since 2013 the company has worked with Greek farmers under contract, and in 2015 it founded a Wheat Academy which, together with the American Farm School of Thessaloniki, trains farmers to grow quality grain; most participants come from Thessaly. According to the company, it needs more than 80,000 tonnes of durum wheat a year.

According to the company, its pasta is made from Greek durum wheat. Its ranges are Melissa Klassiki Seira (classic series, including tagliatelle with egg and tortellini), Melissa Chrysi Epilogi (since 2014), Melissa Olikis Alesis (wholegrain, since 2007), Melissa me Lachanika (with vegetables), Melissa me Ospria (with legumes), Melissa Bio (organic, since 2015), Melissa Gluten Free (since 2013), Melissa High Protein and Melissa Pasta Kids (for children, since 2009). The company also has a semolina product category.