Markidis & Co. after a 60 year's experience into confectionery's raw materials, has managed to create a distinctive range of premium products which thrive in quality and taste.
Despite the fact that new products come up every season, Markidis & Co. can ensure that every product is crafted into the highest standards of quality and also being capable to breath inspiration.
The main values that Markidis has set and has been carrying throughout its history are the continuous quality improvement in every aspect of its confectionary business, responsibility to its customers and proper respect to its employees and partners. These are embeded and thoughtfully balanced in its corporate strategy towards a long-term vision of continuity.
Quality is judjed by the company as the most essencial factor which can differentiate the offerings of the firm from its competition. In Markidis organization, quality has become an inseparable part of the company's sweetened products as it has been prevailing throughout its supply chain system (from the collection of raw materials until the delivery of end-products). From the very start of process, the finestand most premium ingredients are collected and carefully processed with upscale techniques to give excellent confections with soft taste. However, for Markidis, quality is not just the inner excellence into products but also conformity to customer requirements. Markidis company has served as the model of consistent product delivery. Incorporating the traditional production philosophy of industry, Markidis has been succesfull all those years in delivering quality consistent confection and pastry products backed up with caring and individualized attention to its customers.
The employees of an organization are the most valuable resource which should be effectively managed and respected if the organization's corporate goals are to be achieved. Markidis places great emphasis on its corporate staff, and for this purpose, it employs qualified people with rich experience and great expertize in the art of confectionery. In addition, it has developed mechanisms to the encouragement and reward of employee discretion, empowerment and participation. This has resulted in the formation of an open corporate climate and a value created cooperation among Markidis employees.
In that way, our company's personnel gets more actively involved in the decision-making, shows higher zeal for culinary perfection and customer service and holds a deeper orientation toward firmwide problems and goals.
The policy of our company is defined by the following ethical trade policy rules:
Employment is freely chosen.
• There is no forced, bonded or involuntary prison labor.
• Workers are not required to lodge "deposits" or their identity papers with their employer and are free to leave their employer after reasonable notice.
Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected.
• Workers, without distinction, have the right to join or form trade unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively.
• The employer adopts an open attitude towards the activities of trade unions and their organizational activities.
• Workers representatives are not discriminated against and have access to carry out their representative functions in the workplace.
• Where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is restricted under law, the employer facilitates, and does not hinder, the development of parallel means for independent and free association and bargaining.
Working conditions are safe and hygienic
• A safe and hygienic working environment shall be provided, bearing in mind the prevailing knowledge of the industry and of any specific hazards. Adequate steps shall be taken to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, associated with, or occurring in the course of work, by minimizing, so far as is reasonably practicable, the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment.
• Workers shall receive regular and recorded health and safety training, and such training shall be repeated for new or reassigned workers.
• Access to clean toilet facilities and to potable water, and, if appropriate, sanitary facilities for food storage shall be provided.
• Accommodation, where provided, shall be clean, safe, and meet the basic needs of the workers.
• The company observing the code shall assign responsibility for health and safety to a senior management representative.
Child labor shall not be used.
• There shall be no new recruitment of child labor.
• Companies shall develop or participate in and contribute to policies and programs which provide for the transition of any child found to be performing child labour to enable her or him to attend and remain in quality education until no longer a child; “child” and “child labor” being defined in the appendices.
• Children and young persons under 18 shall not be employed at night or in hazardous condition.
• These policies and procedures shall conform to the provisions of the relevant International labor organization (ILO) standards.
Living wages are paid.
• Wages and benefits paid for a standard working week meet, at a minimum, national legal standards or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher. In any event wages should always be enough to meet basic needs and to provide some discretionary income.
• All workers shall be provided with written and understandable information about their employment conditions in respect to wages before they enter employment and about the particulars of their wages for the pay period concerned each time that they are paid.
• Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted nor shall any deductions from wages not provided for by national law be permitted without the expressed permission of the worker concerned. All disciplinary measures should be recorded.
Working hours are not excessive.
• Working hours must comply with national laws, collective agreements, and the provisions below, whichever affords the greater protection for workers. Sub-clauses 6.2 to 6.6 are based on international labor standards.
• Working hours, excluding overtime, shall be defined by contract, and shall not exceed 48 hours per week.*
• All overtime shall be voluntary. Overtime shall be used responsibly, taking into account all the following: the extent, frequency and hours worked by individual workers and the workforce as a whole. It shall not be used to replace regular employment. Overtime shall always be compensated at a premium rate, which will not be less than 125% of the regular rate of pay and always according with the national law.
• The total hours worked in any seven day period shall not exceed 60 hours, except where covered by clause below.
• Working hours may exceed 60 hours in any seven day period only in exceptional circumstances where all of the following are met:
- this is allowed by national law.
- this is allowed by a collective agreement freely negotiated with a workers’ organization representing a significant portion of the workforce.
- appropriate safeguards are taken to protect the workers’ health and safety;
- the employer can demonstrate that exceptional circumstances apply such as unexpected production peaks, accidents or emergencies.
• Workers shall be provided with at least one day off in every seven day period or, where allowed by national law, two days off in every 14 day period.
* International standards recommend the progressive reduction of normal hours of work, when appropriate, to 40 hours per week, without any reduction in workers’ wages as hours are reduced.
No discrimination is practiced
• There is no discrimination in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union membership or political affiliation.
Regular employment is provided.
• To every extent possible work performed must be on the basis of recognized employment relationship established through national law and practice.
• Obligations to employees under labour or social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship shall not be avoided through the use of labour-only contracting, sub- contracting, or home-working arrangements, or through apprenticeship schemes where there is no real intent to impart skills or provide regular employment, nor shall any such obligations be avoided through the excessive use of fixed-term contracts of employment.
No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed.
• Physical abuse or discipline, the threat of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse or other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited.
The manufacturing system of Markidis mainly consists of three primary production lines which take up sixty five per cent of the companys production capacity. Having decades of experiences in confectionary manufacturing, the company has been immerced in the production of fruit-based confectionaries, chocolate-asociated and bakery-purpose products.
Fruit-based products in turn, are further divided into two additional production lines, the fruit process and the manufacturing of confectionery raw materials such syrups, jams, toppings and fillings. From its highly automated moulding to high-tech chocoate enrobing mashines, the company guarantees unobstructed flow progress of the most delicate chocolate products.
Additionaly, its dedicated and highly upscale fruit coating, filling and cutting equipement ensures that the specific task process is carefully carried out with painstaking perfection, thus providing standardization, uniformity and eventually confectionary fruits, jams and fillings of intrincic value. Together with its main production lines, the firm runs a number of ancilarry ones such sugar almond and chocolate sugar almond manufactoring, as well as seasonal confections and receipies of traditional Greek sweets which hold an equall worth in terms of quality of product and appeal to customer, within it.
Aiming to control the whole production process, we have also invested heavily in the establishement of a brand new and high-scale style production and packing line. Whithin the line, a large number of packaging formats are utilised from small packages such sachets, bagging, flow wrapping,bulletin, vases to bulk-purpose buckets which can cater adequately the overall gammut of our products given the specific type and volume of each one.
Located in the area of Aspropyrgos with a built-up area of 4000 sq metres, our company's plant is a modern and full-equiped purpose built facility with state-of-the art machinery that ensures a fully automated processes. The decision on siting was made by taking into account two important factors, the availability of transport and inputs.
The building instalations of the company are located in a area which permits an easy access to a good transportation network (national roads, port of Piraeus-Patras, El Venizelos Airport) and close proximity to the firms main suppliers. However, the best use of materials, personnel and equipement in performing a task and also for establishing the work content of that task is mainly subjected to the design and the layout of the transformation facilities.
Operating in automated production enviroment, our machinery and equipement have been laid out in a way to serve the needs of the product and of the process.