# Karelia Tobacco Company

**Karelia Tobacco Company Inc.** (Καπνοβιομηχανία Καρέλια Α.Ε.) is a Greek cigarette manufacturer headquartered in Kalamata, founded in 1888 by George and Stathis Karelias. It is a leading Greek cigarette manufacturer and exporter, and its brands are sold in more than 50 countries.<sup>[1](https://www.karelia.gr/en/minyma-proedroy-dioikitiko-symvoylio-2/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.karelia.gr/en/schetika-me-emas/)</sup> The company is listed on Euronext Athens and remains controlled by the Karelias family.<sup>[3](https://athens.euronext.com/en/market-data/issuers/208)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1888 in Kalamata by George and Stathis Karelias as a small tobacco trading business<sup>[1](https://www.karelia.gr/en/minyma-proedroy-dioikitiko-symvoylio-2/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.kalamata.gr/myrevolution/dt_team/giorgos-karelias/)</sup> |
| Status | A leading Greek cigarette manufacturer and exporter; brands sold in over 50 countries<sup>[2](https://www.karelia.gr/en/schetika-me-emas/)</sup> |
| Listing | Athens Stock Exchange, 23 February 1976; market capitalization EUR 1,148,160,000<sup>[3](https://athens.euronext.com/en/market-data/issuers/208)</sup> |
| Ownership | Karelia Ioanna 31.96%, Karelias Andreas 21.60%, Karelias Efstathios 20.95%, Spyropoulou Asimina 12.83%, George & Victoria Karelias Foundation 7.15%<sup>[3](https://athens.euronext.com/en/market-data/issuers/208)</sup> |
| 2024 results | Net turnover EUR 283.2 million; profit before tax EUR 143.7 million; consolidated equity EUR 792 million<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup> |
| 2024 volumes | Over 13.2 billion cigarettes (+6.3%) and 479 thousand kg of roll-your-own tobacco (+4.65%)<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup> |
| Staff | 566 group employees<sup>[3](https://athens.euronext.com/en/market-data/issuers/208)</sup> |

## Origins and early history

The business began in 1888 as a small tobacco trading firm in [Kalamata](https://www.edgepedia.org/kalamata) supplying the city and surrounding villages. Because Kalamata was not a tobacco-growing region, leaf arrived by caïque (small coastal boat) from Agrinio and Lamia.<sup>[4](https://www.kalamata.gr/myrevolution/dt_team/giorgos-karelias/)</sup> George Karelias had eight children, four sons and four daughters, and his sons Andreas, Konstantinos, Ioannis, and Efstathios later took over the business.<sup>[4](https://www.kalamata.gr/myrevolution/dt_team/giorgos-karelias/)</sup>

**Machine-made cigarettes.** In 1916 Andreas Karelias bought the company's first cigarette-making machine, and the first cigarette it produced carried the name "Petrobeis Sigareta Afoi Karelia" (Πετρόμπεης Σιγαρέτα Αφοί Καρέλια).<sup>[4](https://www.kalamata.gr/myrevolution/dt_team/giorgos-karelias/)</sup> In the following decades the firm became known across the [Peloponnese](https://www.edgepedia.org/peloponnese), and the interwar period is described as a golden age of the Greek tobacco industry.<sup>[4](https://www.kalamata.gr/myrevolution/dt_team/giorgos-karelias/)</sup>

## Corporate development

The company entered the Athens Stock Exchange on 23 February 1976.<sup>[3](https://athens.euronext.com/en/market-data/issuers/208)</sup> In the same year Karelia became the official Greek manufacturer for R.J. Reynolds, producing and distributing the Winston brand, and from 1981 the [Camel](https://www.edgepedia.org/camel-cigarette) brand as well.<sup>[6](https://www.businessnews.gr/prosopa/item/94101-karelia-i-aionovia-kapnoviomixania-me-tis-gennaiodores-paroxes)</sup> From the early 1990s the company developed from a Greek firm into an international group: it adopted its current name, Karelia Tobacco Company Inc., in 1991, opened an office in Sofia in 1994, and in 1995 acquired Meridian S.A. to supply duty-free products to ships. In 2000 it ended its cooperation with Japan Tobacco International (which had absorbed R.J. Reynolds' international business) to concentrate on its own brands.<sup>[6](https://www.businessnews.gr/prosopa/item/94101-karelia-i-aionovia-kapnoviomixania-me-tis-gennaiodores-paroxes)</sup>

The group today includes subsidiaries in the United Kingdom (Karelia Tobacco Company (UK) Ltd, 100%), Bulgaria (Karelia Bulgaria EOOD and G.K. Distributors EOOD, 100%), Turkey (Karelia Tütün ve Ticaret A.Ş., 97%), Belgium (Karelia Belgium S.A.R.L., 80%), and the Greek companies Meridian S.A. Duty Free Specialists (99.54%) and Karelia Investment S.A. (89.90%).<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup>

## Market position

Karelia competes in a Greek market that also hosts the large multinationals. A European Commission merger decision from around 2000 recorded Karelia's share of the overall Greek cigarette market at 8.8% in volume, behind BAT, JT, and other larger players.<sup>[7](https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m3191_en.pdf)</sup> A later market analysis, citing Euromonitor International, reports that the domestic manufacturer ranked second in Greece in 2015 with an 18% retail volume share.<sup>[8](https://dione.lib.unipi.gr/xmlui/bitstream/handle/unipi/12878/Armoutaki_ydo1204.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)</sup> The company describes itself as one of the fastest growing independently owned cigarette companies in the world.<sup>[9](https://www.karelia.gr/en/archiki/)</sup>

## Brands

All products are manufactured at the company's facilities in Kalamata.<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup> The cigarette brand families include George Karelias and Sons, Karelia Slims, American Legend, Karelia Blue, Leader, Omé, Rex, Karelia Royal, and Karelia Filter; the roll-your-own lines are George Karelias and Sons RYO, Oriental Mist RYO, and American Legend RYO.<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup>

- **George Karelias and Sons**, first launched in 1995, is a premium Virginia-blend range with gold-embossed shoulder-box packaging; the Excellence variant uses Virginia tobaccos from the USA, Zimbabwe, and Brazil's Santa Catarina region.<sup>[10](https://www.karelia.gr/en/ta-simata-mas/)</sup>
- **Karelia Slims** (now Karelia S, L, M, and I versions) is one of the company's top export brands, sold in almost 60 markets.<sup>[10](https://www.karelia.gr/en/ta-simata-mas/)</sup>
- **Omé**, a super-slims American blend launched in 2009, is sold in over 35 domestic and duty-free/travel retail markets and is described as one of the fastest growing brands in France.<sup>[10](https://www.karelia.gr/en/ta-simata-mas/)</sup>
- **Oriental Mist** hand rolling tobacco is based on Oriental tobacco recipes from before the era of manufactured cigarettes.<sup>[10](https://www.karelia.gr/en/ta-simata-mas/)</sup>
- **Karelia Royal** is one of the company's first export brands, and **Leader** and **American Legend** are American-blend brands with international travel-retail followings.<sup>[10](https://www.karelia.gr/en/ta-simata-mas/)</sup>

## Recent performance

In 2024 the group's gross turnover grew 13.9%, exceeding EUR 1.5 billion, with net turnover of EUR 283.2 million and profit before tax of EUR 143.7 million, up 30.5% from 2023.<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup> Growth was strongest in the Balkans and [Western Europe](https://www.edgepedia.org/western-europe): cigarette volumes rose 21% in Bulgaria, 17% in Spain, 9% in France, and 6.7% in Portugal, while Eastern European volumes fell 12.8% on losses in Armenia and Georgia.<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup> The group employed 566 people at the end of 2024.<sup>[5](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)</sup>

The company's brands also appear in illicit-trade monitoring: in [North Macedonia](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-macedonia), George Karelias and Sons and Leader were the main contributors to the rise in illicit cigarette inflows in 2024, while inflows of Omé declined.<sup>[11](https://www.pmi.com/resources/docs/default-source/itp/illicit-cigarette-consumption-in-europe-2024-results.pdf)</sup>

## Governance

Victoria-Margarita G. Karelia is President of the board, Efstathios G. Karelias is Vice President, and Andreas G. Karelias is Chief Executive Officer; the board also includes three independent non-executive members.<sup>[3](https://athens.euronext.com/en/market-data/issuers/208)</sup> The company states that its advertising and promotion are intended only to encourage existing adult smokers to switch to its brands.<sup>[2](https://www.karelia.gr/en/schetika-me-emas/)</sup>

## References

1. [Message from the Chair, Karelia Tobacco Company](https://www.karelia.gr/en/minyma-proedroy-dioikitiko-symvoylio-2/)
2. [About us, Karelia Tobacco Company](https://www.karelia.gr/en/schetika-me-emas/)
3. [Karelia Tobacco Company Inc. S.A. issuer page, Euronext Athens](https://athens.euronext.com/en/market-data/issuers/208)
4. [Γιώργος Καρέλιας, Καλαμάτα 2021](https://www.kalamata.gr/myrevolution/dt_team/giorgos-karelias/)
5. [Karelia Tobacco Company Inc., Annual Financial Report, 1 January – 31 December 2024](https://www.karelia.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/31-12-2024-Karelia-Tobacco-Company-Inc-FS-EN.pdf)
6. [Καρέλια: Η αιωνόβια καπνοβιομηχανία, BusinessNews.gr](https://www.businessnews.gr/prosopa/item/94101-karelia-i-aionovia-kapnoviomixania-me-tis-gennaiodores-paroxes)
7. [European Commission merger decision M.3191 (Philip Morris / Papastratos)](https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m3191_en.pdf)
8. [Tobacco industry analysis and revenues of stakeholders, University of Piraeus repository](https://dione.lib.unipi.gr/xmlui/bitstream/handle/unipi/12878/Armoutaki_ydo1204.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
9. [Homepage, Karelia Tobacco Company](https://www.karelia.gr/en/archiki/)
10. [Our Brands, Karelia Tobacco Company](https://www.karelia.gr/en/ta-simata-mas/)
11. [Illicit cigarette consumption in Europe 2024, KPMG/PMI report](https://www.pmi.com/resources/docs/default-source/itp/illicit-cigarette-consumption-in-europe-2024-results.pdf)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineering and manufacturing › Manufacturing industries and companies › Food, beverage, and tobacco companies*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license