How Nescafe frappe swept the Greek market.

For many years, I traveled frequently to Greece, but then had a 10-year gap. So, on a recent return to Athens, I refreshed old impressions by becoming a Sunday morning tourist. The sun was remarkably warm for late November, and fellow tourists were casting off coats and sweaters as we toiled up

After another hour or two spent sweltering on the Parthenon circuit, the need for refreshment was compelling. That meant more walking, but downhill through the Plaka district. There were plenty of open-air cafes, but just about every table was occupied by local Athenians.

Walking past cafe after cafe, I noticed something curious. In the past, virtually every customer would have been sitting with a tiny cup of traditional Greek coffee (which is how Greeks describe Turkish coffee) served with an accompanying glass of cold water, which is intended to be drunk first in order to cleanse the palate. Instead, most people were sipping a coffee-colored beverage in a tall glass with a drinking straw. Only the elderly clients were sitting with the traditional Greek coffee cup or maybe an espresso. Finally, I found a vacant table, and asked the waiter what everyone was drinking. "Nescafe Frappe," he said.

Nescafe Frappe starts with two cubes of ice in a blender, two heaping teaspoons of soluble powdered coffee, sugar, milk to taste, and cold water. The mixture emerges as a long iced coffee topped with foam. A drinking straw completes the serving, together with the traditional glass of cold water on the side.

A morning's observation in a sophisticated area of Athens is no way to generalize trends in Greek coffee-drinking habits. The volume of coffee consumed in Greece is estimated between 23,000-25,000 tons. Of this total, about one half is consumed by the traditional Greek coffee sector, between 30-35% goes into soluble, and the remainder is slated for filter coffees, espresso, etc.

Out of the total soluble market, of which Nescafe has a 90% share, Nescafe Frappe represents about 60%. For a country which formerly was drinking coffee almost entirely in traditional Greek style, Frappe represents a major shift in consumer taste. The secret lies largely in the power of advertising.

To get the story, I traveled to Maroussi on the outskirts of Athens, where Nescafe Hellas S.A. has operated since 1993 from the offices of Loumidis S.A., which the Swiss company acquired in 1987.