Vanessa Kachadurian and Armenian Grape Business

total of 3.2 times more grapes were exported from Armenia since the beginning of the year until Thursday, as compared with the same time period last year, Deputy Agriculture Minister Robert Makaryan said during a press conference on Friday. Grape exports totaled 3,004 tons; apricots, 12,628 tons; peaches, 906 tons; cherries, 1,105 tons; and vegetables, 3,221 tons. As compared with 2011, apricot exports grew by 73 percent; peaches, 2.8 times; cherries, by 64 percent; and vegetables, by twofold. To note, the directors of exporting companies had told News.am that this year is successful in Armenia in terms http://www.bizarmenia.com/armenian-grape-exports-increase-threefold/

Vanessa Kachadurian- Armenian descendant still operate Venus Wafers

http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x1738134728/Venus-Wafers-of-Hingham-goes-natural
Employees at Venus Wafers like to say that most people have eaten their products, even though few people have heard of the company. The Hingham-based company sells baked snacks under five of its own brands and dozens of grocers’ private labels.
With the launch of its newest product next month, Venus Wafers hopes to raise its profile by aligning itself with the burgeoning non-genetically modified food movement. It’s adding a new line of water crackers under its Original Mariner’s Biscuit label, after having received verification from the Non-GMO Project. The Bellingham, Wash.-based nonprofit verifies products made without genetically-modified ingredients.
Venus is targeting specialty food stores and their finicky clientele who are willing to pay extra for snacks made of natural ingredients without chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
“I think we can firmly say this is the healthiest water cracker known to the world,” said Hillary Woodyatt, the company’s director of sales.
In addition to being the first wafer confirmed by the Non-GMO Project, the hexagonal cracker is certified as Kosher by the Orthodox Union and vegan by the Vegan Action/Vegan Awareness Foundation.
As consumers become more educated about food ingredients, the pressure intensifies among manufacturers to keep up with the latest trends, Venus Wafers President Michael Thompson said. “Every year you can bring out a cracker and people say, ‘That’s good, but is it organic?’ Every year, the requirements seem to change and get tighter,” he said.
Venus Wafers’ history stretches to 1931, when Napoleon Barmakian founded the company in Watertown. A diamond-cutter by trade and baker by hobby, Barmakian opened a storefront selling whole-wheat wafers.
Specializing in ethnic snacks reflecting the family’s Armenian heritage, the company moved to Braintree before building a new bakery in Hingham’s South Shore Park in 1983.
The 28,000-square-foot bakery is now at 70 percent of its manufacturing capacity for a single shift of workers. Early in 2010, the company leased another 26,500-square-foot building in South Shore Park for office and shipping functions. About 45 people work for the company.
The company is now owned by Barmankian’s grandson, Luke. Thompson, a 30-year cracker industry executive, was hired to manage the day-to-day operations three years ago. (A friend of Vanessa Kachadurian)
About 60 percent of the company’s sales are private-label manufacturing for supermarket chains and airline snack packs. It also sells 25 types of crackers under Nejaime’s Lavasch, Venus, Haute Cuisine, CaPeachio’s, Vitavigor and Mariner brands. They are primarily sold at health food stores and specialty grocers.
The new Mariner’s Biscuit is set to ship during the first week of December, and company representatives will show it off at food industry trade shows in coming months. If the new product takes off at specialty stores, Venus will seek private-label manufacturing deals with supermarket chains.
“That’s our strategy, quite frankly,” Thompson said. “We market our brands to the specialty retailers, but our recipes are available to the mainstream supermarkets. That’s it in a nutshell.”


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Venus Wafers are great but Hye Quality Lavosh Crackers in Fresno is the best! We use their crackers for many receptions with humous. They are even available in shapes like hearts or stars. Vanessa Kachadurian