Since 1994, Mrs Ermi Papakyriakou has been home making spoon sweets at her village, Ayioi Vavatsinias, a picturesque and remote place at the mountainous region of Larnaca District. During the early days, she was supplying a handful of local customers, making spoon sweets using pure ingredients and traditional recipes. In the years that followed, demand for her products grew and by 2003 she was making more than 5,000 jars a year. At the time, the decision was taken to set up a new, well organised and hygienically safe processing unit at the outskirts of the village. By 2006, the new processing unit was fully operational and business expanded but the old recipes of making spoon sweets and other traditional products remained with the business. Today, Ermi’s rural agri-business produces more than 40 different types of spoon sweets, marmalade’s and traditional products made from grape must. A HACCP certification procedure is currently under way, but the company is already equipped and capable of following all the hygienic requirements set by the local authorities. A significant competitive advantage of the business stems from the fact that most of the fruit and vegetables used for processing come from the family owned growing fields, planted and cultured specifically for this purpose. This ensures high standards of quality raw material that is passed to the end product, in terms of texture and aroma. All products at Ermi’s workshop are preservatives – free, made using the old recipes and from fruit that comes directly from the family plantations that are located at Ayioi Vavatsinias. The new processing and packaging facilities further ensure that these traditional products are made using the strictest hygienic conditions. The end result is an excellent range of traditional products, ready to meet the highest requirements of the foreign markets.