The Holstein Association of Greece (HAGR) was established three years ago and is recognized according to the Greek law. HAGR is the first countrywide organization having as basic goal the genetic improvement of the Holstein cattle breed and the efficient management of dairy farms. The Association is based in Thessaloniki and expands its activities throughout Greece by the establishment of regional councils.
For its purpose the Association may be
represented and cooperate with the public sector, as well as any other agencies
of similar interest both domestic and international. The services provided by
the Hellenic Holstein Association are compatible with the standards defined by
the Greek Ministry of Agriculture and the European Union.
The registration rules of the Holstein Association of Greece (HAGR) provide for
the free membership of dairy farmers. From its founding and operational day,
the HAGR is actively trying to increase its member base and to lower the cost
of recording. In this mission we view dairy farmers as our prospective
customers within an environment that operates under free market guidelines.
Therefore we apply marketing and communication principles in order to approach
and register them as our members.
HAGR’s process of contracting farmers
comes after the evaluation of data that are available to us through government
agencies, and third party institutions, which carry their research through
questionnaires. By evaluating the available data, we are interested to get a
clear picture of the individual producers business profile and their true needs
but also to develop a plan of what they should look for to run their farm on a
profitable and sustainable basis.
In this mission we have developed a clear and concise pricing policy in order
to be able to offer the consumer an easy way to purchase our services. Our
professional associate personalizes the HAGR by communicating on a
person-to-person basis with our current and prospective members. HAGR’s message
is that we go beyond offering services of exceptional quality. In this context
upon visiting prospective members, our associates go into great detail on
explaining the services we provide but always maintaining our commitment to
understanding the farmers’ needs.
Together with better marketing to the
producers we are also actively involved into constantly improving our internal
operation. Aiming to improve our services we have invested in better educating
our workforce, provide them with better salaries and hire more staff according
to our expanding needs. As we firmly believe that there is no better cost and
time effective way to promote and expand a service than through our own
associates, each one knows that all their behavior has an interaction direct or
indirect connected with the success of HAGR.
The Holstein Association of Greece has
as mission don’t simply to apply in a little better way, the recording
practices which have been already introduced and failed in the previous
periods, but to offer her services in a very different way. We locate teams of
producers that present particular interest. Our mission is to apply innovative,
carefully studied, excellently coordinated services, with good quality and low
price, covering the needs and the wishes of the farmers. Because however we
understand that we owe to know very well our customers, that is to say our
members-dairy farmers, we attend to be as good as possible informed. At the
same time we study carefully the structure of their enterprises in order to
find what really they would wish to buy. Simultaneously we assemble as much as
possible information on the competition and we re-define our services, without
however following an aggressive competitive strategy.
The Holstein Association of Greece has been established not solely to attract the dairy farmers by offering superior quality services at an affordable cost for both the HAGR and its members. We value human relationship and we measure our success by this standard that is essential in animal recording. We do our best to include in our business plan every aspect of the dairy industry, from our relation with governmental officials and participation in working groups of international bodies down to the friendly personal relations with farmers. Today, the structure of the Greek dairy industry is rapidly changing. The Holstein Association of Greece is prepared to play a leading role in bringing its expertise in this process.
Contact:
Holstein Association of Greece
10th klm Thessaloniki – Lagada
Derveni – P.C. 57200, P.O. BOX 4
Lagadas Thessaloniki
tel.: +30 23940 – 20269 / 73286
fax: +30 23940 – 72859
e-mail: info@holstein.gr / holstein@otenet.gr